MISSION — The Mission Veterans Patriots have produced a season to remember as they head into the playoffs with an unbeaten record while scoring nearly six goals per game.
It is the result of several years of continuous labor and steady improvement. When Kenan Nunez became the Patriots’ head girls soccer coach in 2017, he looked around and realized he needed numbers.
There were only about 30 girls in the program, barely enough to outfit a varsity and junior varsity team.
“A lot of girls were just here just because their friends were here and stuff like that and those were the ones that would end up leaving,” Nunez said. “They wouldn’t be committed. It was tough.”
He heard about talented players around campus and sought them out.
“I would actually go out of my way to go and look for them in classes … and say, ‘Hey, you know what? I’m Coach Nunez. I heard you played soccer last year. Why aren’t you playing this year?’” he said.
Another issue involved player development. Many girls did not play outside of soccer season. Nunez got them playing club ball or with off-season leagues throughout the year.
“I would see that the girls would just play soccer for three months and they wouldn’t play soccer (again) until the following November or December,” he said. “You just don’t get good at a sport if you just play three months out of the year.”
He also began attending junior high soccer games so that girls on teams at Mission Veterans’ feeder schools, Mission Junior High and Cantu Junior High, knew his name and face.
Like a rising tide, the numbers began to climb. Now, Nunez has about 60 girls in the program — double the number he started with four years ago.
Senior Captain Zarahy Campos has noticed the change during her four years on the varsity.
“We’ve grown a lot since my freshman year,” she said. “I’ve seen a lot of progress and I thank coach (Nunez) for that. We have girls dedicated to soccer who show up to practice every day.
A midfielder with a lethal shot from distance, Campos is one of those players who has improved her game through participation on local select teams like United Angels and McAllen Dynamo. She has 15 goals and 12 assists for the Patriots.
“The more they played, the more they committed themselves to the program,” Nunez said. “I knew it would take time. It was a gradual process.”
The Patriots missed the playoffs following Nunez’ first two seasons (2018 and 2019) as he built the program up but then things began to click. Last year, the Patriots secured a playoff berth by finishing fourth. The COVID-19 pandemic forced the cancellation of the playoffs statewide, however.
This year, the Patriots have gone 14-0-2 – believed to be the best record in program history since the school opened about 20 years ago. That includes a spotless record in district, 10-0, making them the District 30-5A champs.
They will face Corpus Christi Flour Bluff, out of District 29-5A, on Friday in Alice in the bi-district round.
Ranked seventh among Class 5A teams in the state by the Texas Girls Coaches Association, the Patriots have blitzed teams with a jarring 94 goals — an average of 5.9 per game. They have paired that with a suffocating defense that has allowed only five goals in 16 matches.
Two non-district games convinced Nunez that he had something special. The Patriots ground out draws against Valley powerhouses Brownsville Porter (0-0) and Los Fresnos (1-1) in January.
“Once we played Porter and Los Fresnos and we tied, we knew we belonged,” Nunez said. “Those are top-notch Valley schools and we held our own.”
Freshman midfielder Mia Sanchez, who has 23 goals including four hat tricks this season, noticed it too.
“That really showed us how strong our team is,” Sanchez said. “We learned … there are going to be tough games.”
Nunez even adjusted his team goals afterward. Before this season began, the goal was to make the playoffs. After those watershed games, winning the district title became a realistic possibility. Nunez then raised the bar even further, challenging his team to go unbeaten.
“It was a little goal and it got to (be) a bigger goal and now (it’s) got to a bigger goal,” Nunez said. “Now, our goal is to make a decent playoff run. I tell the girls, ‘We made history. Let’s keep making history.’”
Other District 30-5A first-round playoff matchups include second place Laredo Martin vs. Victoria West, third place La Joya Palmview vs. Corpus Christi Veterans and fourth place Roma vs. Gregory-Portland. The teams will play between Thursday and Saturday.