By ROY HESS | THE BROWNSVILLE HERALD

The Lopez Lobos started District 32-5A boys soccer competition in a big way Friday by winning 4-1 at Porter in the second “Battle of Southmost” matchup between the two teams this season.

In the final of the inaugural Southmost Classic tournament at Porter on Jan. 6, the first weekend of the season, the Cowboys beat the Lobos 1-0.

Friday’s match was more important, though, as it counted in the 32-5A standings.

“It’s Porter, and I guess any time we beat Porter or they beat us, it’s a big win,” Lopez coach Amadeo Escandon said. “Now that it’s over, we have to concentrate on our next game Tuesday (against Donna North).

“This was a good way to start the district season,” he added.

The Lobos scored three goals in the first half Friday to lead 3-0 and then went up 4-0 before the Cowboys’ Christian Maldonado tallied a goal with 10 minutes left.

Sebastian Benavides and Jose “Chevy” Echavarria each had a pair of goals for the Lobos. Echavarria scored on a penalty kick 10 minutes into the second half to make it 4-0.

Echavarria drew a red card seconds after the Lobos’ fourth goal. The ref changed the red to a yellow when it was explained to him that “Chevy” wasn’t taunting the Porter crowd. He was instead making a heart sign with his hands to his girlfriend in the stands after he converted the penalty kick.

The match drew a standing-room-only crowd with almost as many fans standing on the edge of the field as were packed into the stands.

It was a girls-boys 32-5A doubleheader with the girls playing first.

The opening match was much closer and just as intense as the nightcap.

Playing their first “Battle of Southmost” match in 32-5A soccer this season, the Porter Cowgirls came away with a 1-0 victory over the Lopez Lady Lobos.

“It was a great game — they always are (in the Battle of Southmost),” Cowgirls coach Abraham Gracia said. “Like always, they can go either way.”

It was the 32-5A opener for both teams as well. Each squad is coming off a playoff season and the Lady Lobos are defending 32-5A champions.

The difference in the outcome of Friday’s match was a penalty kick awarded to the Porter girls barely 10 minutes into the second half.

Priscila Cortinas, a reliable scorer for Porter who is now a senior, took the PK and converted it, giving the Cowgirls the only goal they would need.

“This win is a good, positive motivation for us,” Gracia said. “It keeps us moving forward. Lopez has a good team, so it helps us out a lot to win against them.”

The Porter boys and girls continue 32-5A action next Tuesday at Pace. The same night, the Lopez boys and girls will be at home against Donna North for another 32-5A matchup.

By ROY HESS | THE BROWNSVILLE HERALD

Frank Sanchez knows the routine.

It’s customary to throw the swimming coach who wins a district championship into the pool soon after the team trophy is presented. Any assistant coaches who happen to be on hand for the trophy presentation usually get wet, too. Never mind if they’re wearing street clothes.

In the case of Sanchez, the swimming coach at Brownsville Veterans Memorial, and Jose Luis Zarate, his assistant, they knew exactly what was coming as the Chargers and Lady Chargers successfully defended their conference titles at Friday’s District 32-5A meet at Brownsville’s Margaret M. Clark Aquatic Center.

Also Friday, the District 32-6A meet took place at the Clark Center after the 32-5A meet. The Los Fresnos boys and girls captured team championships in that one. It was the ninth straight district crown for the Falcons and the fifth time to win district out of the last six years for the Lady Falcons. The Hanna girls won it last year.

The Los Fresnos boys triumphed with 169 points compared to 84 for runner-up Hanna and 76 for third-place Rivera.

The Lady Falcons were district champs with 150.5 points. Second-place Harlingen High had 106 points and third-pace Hanna 96.5.

Winners of individual events for the Los Fresnos boys were Luis Osuna (200 and 500 freestyles) and Danny Escamilla (50 and 100 freestyles), while winners for the Lady Falcons included Sarah Villarreal (200 individual medley and 500 freestyle) and Emily Rodriguez (50 freestyle).

In both district meets, the top six individual finishers and relays qualified for regional competition Feb. 2-3.

The Brownsville Veterans swimmers and divers won with decisive point totals, taking the boys team title with 218 points compared to 135 for runner-up Lopez, while the Lady Chargers triumphed in their division with 198 points compared to the second-place Lady Lobos with 96. Porter was third in both divisions with 87 points for the girls and 71 for the boys.

Instead of waiting for the team to toss them into the pool, Sanchez and Zarate jumped in voluntarily, even though they were dressed in street clothes.

“It’s safer that way,” Sanchez said after he came out of the pool soaking wet.

Brownsville Veterans’ superior numbers gave it a clear advantage in scoring the points needed to repeat as champs for the boys and girls.

“I think that everybody on our team was so focused and ready to go that they hit their times for their swims at just the right time for this meet,” Sanchez said. “I was really proud of the ones we put in certain events (to score points) that had never done that event. They did extremely well by scoring in at least the top eight places.

“It definitely helped us as a team,” Sanchez added. “I think that (it) was one of the keys (to victory) for us. Everyone pulled their weight and put in points where we needed them.”

Highlighting the day for Brownsville Veterans were Adrian Fierro and Daniela Santillana, who were named the meet’s outstanding swimmers for the boys and girls, respectively. They each won the 50 and 100 freestyles and each swam on two winning relays. Brownsville Veterans won all six relays.

Fierro set a Brownsville ISD record Friday with his time of 21.58 seconds in the 50 freestyle. That time eclipsed the time of 21.59 set in 2005 set by Lopez’s J. Boone.

“I’m glad to see everyone on our team do well,” Fierro said.

Other double-winners for the Brownsville Veterans boys were Javier Garcia (200 freestyle and 100 backstroke) and Kevin Borsani (200 Individual Medley and 100 butterfly), while a teammate who also won an event was Nicolas Alvarez (1-meter diving).

Besides Santillana, another double-winner for the Lady Chargers was Daniela Chapa (200 individual medley and 500 freestyle). Also winning events for the Lady Chargers were Salma Mena (200 individual medley), Jenna Saldivar (100 butterfly), Leslie Ayala (100 backstroke) and Karen Lua-Rodriguez (100 breastroke).

Individual winners for the Lopez boys were Daniel Gamez (500 freestyle) and Jocsan Camacho (100 breastroke).

Brownsville winners in the 32-6A meet included Hanna’s Nadia Gutierrez (girls 100 freestyle and 100 backstroke), Hanna’s Matthew Lovett (boys 100 backstroke) and Rivera’s Kyle Shea (boys 100 breastroke).

By ROY HESS | The Brownsville Herald

PROGRESO — The St. Joseph Academy soccer team always seems to have a strong showing in the Progreso Tournament, particularly in recent years.

The Bloodhounds won the event last year and finished as the runner-up in 2016.

Their participation in 2018 as the defending champions of the three-day, 12-team tournament was no exception.

SJA gave another strong showing in Saturday’s championship match against Boerne High, even though the Bloodhounds came out on the short end of a 1-0 score to finish with the runner-up trophy.

“We’re very appreciative that Progreso organized this tournament and allowed us to play in it,” SJA coach Edgar Tovar said. “It was three days with a lot of soccer and we’re very pleased about that. Our players put in a lot of effort and desire to reach the final. We faced a very good team for the championship and it was a tough game.

“We’re definitely improving,” Tovar added. “Our objective is clear. We want to play better in every game. We feel more confident in each match and we enjoyed playing in the final today. We thank Progreso for having this tournament.”

The title match, played with 30-minute halves, was tied 0-0 and appeared to be heading to penalty kicks until Boerne High’s Tyler Hudson sent a crossing shot from the left side into the right corner of the net with 13 minutes remaining. Hudson’s tally provided the Greyhounds with the only goal they needed to win.

Boerne High coach Martin Codino said his team has enjoyed playing in the Progreso Tournament now for two seasons.

“Coming to this tournament is important to us because we love to play Progreso,” Codino said. “We know the regional tournament (and the route to state from Region IV-4A) goes through Progreso (a UIL state tournament qualifier the past two seasons).

“(Progreso) Coach (Margarito) Jimenez and I are good friends,” Codino added. “To be honest, we think it’s going to be us or them going through (and making it to state), so we enjoy playing these guys. Progreso plays in our tournament, and two weeks later, we play in theirs. We love the way they play.”

Four teams qualified for Saturday morning’s semifinals after pool play on Thursday and Friday.

The Greyhounds edged Progreso 1-0 in one semifinal, while SJA won 4-2 in the other semifinal against Hidalgo as Jose Luis Almazan netted three goals and Miguel Guerra added one for the Bloodhounds.

In Saturday’s third-place game against Hidalgo, Progreso led 3-0 at halftime and eventually won 5-1. Scoring goals for the Red Ants were Nico Lopez, Eduardo Bahena, Matthew Perez, Fabricio Gonzalez and Adrian Mendoza.

“We’re just a week away from the start of District (32-4A), and this type of competition in our tournament really prepares us for it,” Progreso coach Margarito Jimenez said. “We’re ready to play (in district), and hopefully this year will be a chance for us to do something special again (and make it back to state).”

By ROY HESS | THE BROWNSVILLE HERALD

The pathway — or more accurately, swimming lane — to state is a journey that starts today at district meets for 32-6A and 32-5A swimmers and divers at Brownsville’s Margaret M. Clark Aquatic Center.

The two districts begin their meets at 9 a.m. for 32-5A and 1 p.m. for 32-6A at the Clark Center.

High school swimmers and divers officially started their UIL season last fall at the beginning of the school year. Now comes the most important time for them with today’s district competition followed by regional competition Feb. 2-3. The Region VIII-6A meet takes place at the Clark Center, while the Region VIII-5A meet will be at the Corpus Christi ISD Natatorium.

The top six individual finishers and relays at district qualify for regional competition.

The goal is to reach the UIL state meet Feb. 16-17 in Austin.

“I’ve gone to state, but for a private school (St. Joseph Academy in TAPPS),” said Adrian Fierro of Brownsville Veterans Memorial, a senior who hopes to make it to the UIL state meet for the first time in Class 5A. “I feel I’m on course to make it. I’ve been practicing a lot. It takes a lot of discipline.”

Fierro is one of the Metro Area’s brightest hopes to get to state. His primary events are the 50 and 100 freestyles and he also swims on his team’s relays.

It all starts at district. Both of today’s meets begin with diving competition.

“We’ve been making strong efforts to practice in the mornings and after school because we want to be ready for district,” Hanna coach Sam Perez said at last month’s City Meet. “We want to have our best times (as the season draws to a close).”

Added Gloria Orta, a senior standout for Hanna, “I’m excited to swim at district and regionals. It’s the last shot I’ve got (as a senior trying to get back to state) and I just hope it goes great. Going to state in a relay last year was awesome, and this year, I’m trying to go in an individual event. I’m excited about what’s to come and I’m really looking forward to those races.”

The Hanna girls and Los Fresnos boys are defending team champions of the 32-6A meet.

Perez said his girls probably aren’t the favorites to repeat their team title this year.

“I know the times (the other teams have coming into the meet),” he said.

Brownsville Veterans captured the boys and girls team titles at last year’s 32-5A meet.

“I think our swimmers and divers are ready for district,” Brownsville Veterans coach Frank Sanchez said. “They’ve put in the time and effort in practice, so I think they’re very ready.”

When asked if he believes his boys and girls can successfully defend their district team titles, Sanchez said, “We’ve looked at the meet’s ‘psych sheets,’ and with the numbers we have, it looks good.

“I tell the team not to be overconfident and to just go out and do their best because anything can happen,” he added. “They’re hungry (to repeat and do well). I think if they just do their best, we’ll be OK.”

Roy Hess covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @HessRgehess

By ROY HESS | THE BROWNSVILLE HERALD

Conference play starts Friday for boys and girls soccer teams in Districts 32-6A and 32-5A.

Through non-district and tournament action so far this month, unlike in years past, no one team has emerged as a clear favorite in either district for boys and girls, so it should be quite interesting.

All the Brownsville-area teams seem to welcome the arrival of district competition, while most, if not all of them, appear to be works in progress that are striving for improvement and focused upon getting their injured players healthy.

The Rivera girls advanced three rounds in the playoffs a year ago. They anticipate another strong showing this season, although they’ve had a somewhat slow start in 2018. The Lady Raiders are coming off Tuesday’s 2-1 loss to McAllen Memorial, a team that had beaten them 7-0 earlier this season. Ashley Torres scored Rivera’s goal Tuesday.

“We played really well and played with passion against Memorial,” Lady Raiders coach Peter A. Rodriguez said. “We still have players returning from minor injuries. I think the close game helped the girls get some confidence for district.

“Considering the Memorial girls were outright champs at the BISD Tournament, our girls are more than ready to have a better start in 32-6A than last season,” he added. “We can only improve as each game goes by.”

Both 32-6A and 32-5A will feature varsity doubleheaders this year. In 32-6A, the boys play first at 5:30 p.m. followed by the girls at 7:30 p.m. In 32-5A, the girls play first at 5:30 p.m. followed by the boys at 7:30 p.m.

Artificial turf is being installed at the Hanna and Rivera fields, while the field at Brownsville Veterans Memorial has been deemed unusable for varsity play. As a result, the artificial turf fields at Porter, Lopez and Sams Memorial Stadium figure to be used frequently.

Friday’s doubleheaders in 32-6A have Hanna vs. Rivera at Sams, Los Fresnos at San Benito, Harlingen High vs. Harlingen South at Boggus Stadium and Weslaco High vs. Weslaco East at Bobby Lackey Stadium.

The 32-5A schedule of doubleheaders on Friday has Lopez at Porter, Brownsville Veterans vs. Pace at Lopez, Edcouch-Elsa at Donna North and Mercedes at Donna High.

Pace’s boys and girls will be playing home games on the natural turf field at Pace. The Pace boys won there 1-0 against San Benito on Tuesday.

“It should be a good matchup between Brownsville schools on Friday,” Pace boys coach Mario A. Zamora said about going against Brownsville Veterans.

“Obviously, Veterans won the BISD Tournament and last year they won district, so they have a very good team. It should be a good game. My team is ready to compete against them.

“It should be a good show,” he added. “I’m excited about my fourth season (coaching the Vikings). My son is eight months old and I’m excited to have him in the crowd (to support us).”

The Pace girls tuned up for district with a 9-0 win Tuesday against Mission High, also at Pace. Kryssie Rivera scored six of the goals and is closing in on 100 for her four-year Pace career.

“Our focus since last week has practically been (all) on offense, centering passes and scoring goals,” Lady Vikings coach Jesus O. Villarreal said. “Our girls are very focused. I think the most important thing is they’re hungry (to do well).

“We’re taking things (in district) very seriously,” Villarreal added. “Every week we’re (just) going to focus on the game we have on Tuesday and then on the one we have on Friday. Brownsville Veterans is one of the city’s teams. Regardless of the weather, any time we play a Brownsville team, it’s going to be an awesome game.”

PROGRESO TOURNAMENT
Last week there was a girls tournament in Progreso. This week, starting today, Progreso is the host of a 12-team, three-day tournament.

Besides Progreso, the teams include Port Isabel, Brownsville IDEA Frontier, St. Joseph Academy, Rio Hondo, La Feria, Monte Alto, Grulla, Hidalgo, Edinburg IDEA Quest, Zapata and Boerne High.

The championship match is scheduled for noon on Saturday.

WHO’S NO. 1?
Through tournament and non-district play over the past three weeks, several teams have emerged as among the best in the Valley.

For the girls, McAllen High appears to be the Valley’s clear choice as No. 1. Sharyland Pioneer, Sharyland High and McAllen Memorial appear to be strong as well.

For the boys, Valley View is a candidate for No. 1. The Tigers haven’t played in any Valley tournaments, but have done well and won competitive tournaments out of the Valley. La Joya Juarez-Lincoln won the “La Copa Frontera” Tournament last weekend and took second in the BISD Tournament the weekend before that, so the Huskies are looking pretty good as well.

All the teams is Brownsville are looking good, and as always, at least one or more of them should eventually emerge as strong contenders for a berth at state.

Roy Hess covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @HessRgehess

By ROY HESS | Staff Writer

One last opportunity to prepare for District 32-5A competition came Tuesday night for the Pace girls and boys soccer teams as they played host to the Mission High Lady Eagles and San Benito Greyhounds in a non-district doubleheader.

It was quite a successful outing for the Lady Vikings, who defeated Mission High 9-0 in the opener. The Pace boys played the Greyhounds in the late game and won 1-0.

District 32-5A opens Friday for the Pace squads as they take on Brownsville Veterans Memorial in another doubleheader. Brownsville Veterans is designated as the home team Friday. The matches will be played at Lopez because of field conditions at Brownsville Veterans.

Tuesday’s victory for the Pace girls was highlighted by senior forward Kryssie Rivera, who scored six of the Lady Vikings’ nine goals. Her first four tallies gave Pace a 4-0 advantage at halftime.

Rivera added two more goals in the second half while teammates Alexis Guajardo and Arianna Garcia scored two and one goals, respectively.

“I definitely think this was a (good) start to our season (considering 32-5A begins Friday),” Rivera said. “We have had a couple of injuries, so this win will give us a little more confidence in how we play on this field. We’re the only (varsity) team (in Brownsville ISD) that is playing (district games) on a grass field.
“I thought I would definitely try to take advantage of every shot I had tonight, considering I’m so close to passing that record (of reaching 100 career goals),” Rivera added. “Hopefully, I’ll keep scoring, we’ll keep winning and it’ll be the best.”

The standout striker, a starter since she was a freshman, now has 96 goals in her career at Pace. She’s scored 25 goals so far this season.

The city record for girls is held by Rivera’s Yesenia Ortiz, who had more than 100 in her career that ended a few years ago.

As 32-5A competition draws closer, Lady Vikings coach Jesus O. Villarreal likes what he sees right now from his team.
“We’re doing our best to polish things up for district,” Villarreal said. “I ask these girls to do something and they do it even better than I expect, so that’s a real plus.”

On Tuesday, barely four minutes into the match against the Lady Eagles, Rivera found the net from the right side on a shot from about 20 yards away. A shot by Rivera from about the same location with nine and a half minutes gone made it 2-0. Her header off a corner kick taken from the right side during the 13th minute increased the tally to 3-0 and a well-placed direct kick from just outside the penalty area in the 31st minute gave the Lady Vikings a 4-0 edge at intermission.

From there, it was just a matter of what the final score would be.

Meanwhile, in the boys match, both teams played on even terms throughout the game that was decided with seven minutes gone in the second half when Pace’s Eduardo

“Lalo” Ramirez rifled a shot past the goalkeeper and into the net from about 20 yards out.
Ramirez came in fast on the attack and the San Benito goalkeeper came out in an effort to cut off the angle of the shot, but as it turned out, he was caught out of position and paid the price for it. Leading 1-0, the Vikings held on to win despite missing a penalty kick in the final 10 minutes.

“I think it’s always nice to finish off the pre-district schedule with a win, and especially without receiving (too many) goals on our side,” Pace coach Mario A. Zamora said. “To me, we’ve had an excellent tournament in Houston and the BISD Tournament to help us have a good start to the season. We’ve polished little details that we have to have done right.”

San Benito defeated Pace in a scrimmage earlier this month. It was Pace’s turn to win Tuesday.

“It was definitely a good test (tonight),” Greyhounds coach William Huerta said. “Pace brings a good game every time we play them, and this was the second time we’ve played them (this season).

“We made some mistakes against them tonight, but we’ll learn from it,” Huerta added. “We’ll get better. I see my team most definitely ready for District (32-6A). We know we’re in a tough district and we hope to compete this year. We’re going to work hard and come out and do our best.”

By ROY HESS | THE BROWNSVILLE HERALD

LOS FRESNOS — On the bright side, it could have been a lot colder, wetter and windier than it was on Friday night for the non-district girls soccer match between Los Fresnos and Brownsville Veterans Memorial at Leo Aguilar Memorial Stadium.

Once the match began, though, it seemed the players didn’t mind the less-than-ideal conditions at all. They just wanted to play and have another chance to prepare for district competition, which starts next week for both teams.

“It’s not so bad,” said Lady Falcons coach Patricia K. Hernandez about the weather after the game ended with temperatures in the low 50s, barely a breeze and no rain falling, although it had been drizzling earlier.

Brownsville Veterans won 1-0 on a shot from the right side taken by sophomore Arely Guzman from 20-plus yards out just 13 minutes into the contest.

Guzman’s shot came in fast and strong on a line drive, glanced off the goalkeepers’ hands and went into the net.

“Any time you play Los Fresnos, you know it’s always going to be a good test,” Lady Chargers coach Luis Troncoso said. “We knew we had to come out and execute.

“I thought our defense played well,” he added. “We were challenged and our girls held their ground (to record a shutout). Another thing I liked was we were able to give some of our girls playing time so they could experience the type of competition you get when you play Los Fresnos.”

Hannah Obregon was credited with the assist on Guzman’s goal.

Brownsville Veterans came close to making it 2-0 later in the first half when a shot from about eight yards away went off the right post.

After the Lady Chargers had won the match in regulation, the two teams practiced a penalty-kick situation and Los Fresnos prevailed 3-2 with Allison Spier, Gaby X. Mariscal and Cassie Lozano converting PKs for the Lady Falcons, who are defending District 32-6A champions.

“Veterans gave us some very good competition,” Hernandez said. “It was a good insight into what we can expect in our district. Based on tonight and what we saw last weekend in the Brownsville Tournament, we know what we need to work on and fix to be ready for district.

“We have a young team with five returnees, I believe,” Hernandez added. “We’re rebuilding. Right now it’s a matter of getting our team to play as a unit and communicate. It’s a work in progress, but within the next week we’re going to hit practice hard, put all the pieces together, including having the ones we just got back from injury, and get it done so we’ll be ready for district.”

Los Fresnos plays its last non-district match at home Tuesday against Port Isabel before starting 32-6A action next Friday at San Benito.

Brownsville Veterans is at home for its final non-district game next Tuesday against Weslaco High before beginning District 32-5A competition as the home team next Friday against Pace. The Lady Chargers, who are expected to play their home games in district at Porter or Lopez this year, finished second in 32-5A last season.

By ROY HESS | The Brownsville Herald

Soccer took a break earlier this week as Mother Nature invaded the Rio Grande Valley with more cold weather.

After postponements and cancellations of Tuesday’s games, the season resumes today with tournament play plus on Friday with more non-district matches.

There are at least two Valley tournaments for varsity teams starting today — the 12th annual “La Copa Frontera” Hidalgo-Valley View Tournament for boys and the Progreso Lady Red Ants Tournament. There are 16 teams entered in the boys tournament at Hidalgo and Valley View, while there are 10 teams participating in the girls tournament at Progreso.

Each tournament is dividing teams into two groups for pool play today and Friday with a tournament championship match scheduled for Saturday — 1 p.m. at Progreso and 8 p.m. at Hidalgo. There will also be pool play earlier Saturday in the boys tournament.

From the Metro Area, Port Isabel’s girls are playing at the Progreso event, while Rivera, Porter and Los Fresnos are among the boys teams playing at the Hidalgo and Valley View Tournament.

The pool-play group for Los Fresnos and Rivera includes Hidalgo, La Joya Juarez-Lincoln, McAllen Rowe, Laredo Alexander, Mercedes and Monte Alto. Porter’s group includes McAllen High, Grulla, Mission High, Edinburg IDEA Quest, Laredo United South, La Joya Palmview and McAllen Memorial.

This week’s tournaments offer pretty much a last chance to fine-tune things as district starts next week for most of the Valley’s teams. Actually, District 31-5A already has begun.

“Our goals and expectations are the same as these past two weeks (when we’ve played in tournaments),” said Rivera coach Salvador Garcia, who is starting his 21st season of guiding the Raiders. “We want our young players to experience what varsity competition is all about. We are still trying different looks and formations to see what is better for us.

“We have a couple of players out because of minor injuries and we want to avoid even more injuries,” he added. “To be healthy is going to be vital for our District (32-6A) competition (that starts Jan. 26).”

The same objective at the tournament exists for the Porter boys.

“Well, our main goal is to stay healthy,” said Jose Espitia, now in his 11th year of directing the Cowboys. “At the same time, we want to try out different formations and lineups depending on the game situation. We know that District (32-5A, also starting Jan. 26) will be very tough and we want to be able to compete and compensate our lack of (varsity) experience with heart.”

McAllen High defeated Juarez-Lincoln 3-0 in last year’s “La Copa Frontera” final.

PROGRESO EVENT

Port Isabel’s group for pool play at the Lady Red Ants Tournament includes Hidalgo, Lyford, Zapata and Edinburg IDEA Quest. The tournament’s other pool-play group consists of Progreso, Raymondville, Grulla, Rio Hondo and Monte Alto.

Lady Tarpons coach Jesus Cardenas, now in his sixth season of guiding the Port Isabel girls, said his squad will be playing at less than full strength in the Progreso Tournament.

“We have been hit by the injury bug, and other UIL events going on at the same time or day limits my options with the team,” Cardenas said. “I hope to get healthy through this tournament and give my freshmen (varsity) experience. Anything else would be icing on the cake.”

The Lady Tarpons are coming off last Saturday’s 3-0 win against Monte Alto.

District 31-4A action for Port Isabel’s girls and boys starts Feb. 9.

GAMES OF INTEREST

There are some interesting non-district matchups scheduled Friday in the Metro Area.
For the girls, two of them are McAllen Memorial at Lopez and Brownsville Veterans Memorial at Los Fresnos. Both are scheduled to start at 6 p.m.

On the boys side in the area on Friday, it’s IDEA Frontier at Port Isabel at 6 p.m., St. Joseph Academy at Pace at 7 p.m. and PSJA High at Brownsville Veterans at 7:45 p.m.

There are some interesting matches on the road Friday as well for Metro Area teams. The Lopez boys play Harlingen South at 6 p.m. at Boggus Stadium, while the Pace girls are at Edinburg Vela at 8 p.m. Also, the Porter girls are at PSJA High at 7 p.m.

Roy Hess covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @HessRgehess

By ROY HESS | The Brownsville Herald

BROWNSVILLE — As temperatures again dropped into the 40-degree range Friday night, soccer teams with a chance to qualify for a spot in today’s quarterfinals at the Brownsville ISD boys and girls tournaments did their best on the field on the final day of pool play, bundled up as the sun set and patiently waited for point totals to be determined.

The two BISD tournaments, which include 32 teams for the girls and 28 for the boys, started Thursday and run through today at Brownsville Sports Park.

Both girls and boys tournaments featured pool play Thursday and Friday with the top two teams in each of four groups advancing to today’s Gold Division quarterfinals at 9 a.m. The third- and fourth-place teams from each of the groups qualified for today’s Silver Division quarterfinals, also this morning.

Reaching the quarterfinals for the boys in the Gold Division were McAllen High, Donna North, Donna High, La Joya Juarez-Lincoln and Brownsville schools Veterans, Hanna, Rivera and Lopez.

In today’s 9 a.m. Gold Division quarterfinals for the boys, it’s McHi vs. Donna North, Donna High vs. Brownsville Veterans, Juarez-Lincoln vs. Hanna and Rivera vs. Lopez.

In the Silver Division boys quarterfinals at 10:30 a.m., it’s Brownsville Pace vs. Los Fresnos, La Joya High vs. Mission High, Brownsville Porter vs. Edinburg High and PSJA Southwest vs. Laredo United South.

It’s the 36th annual BISD Tournament for the boys and the 19th for the girls.

Championship matches in all divisions will be played at 1:30 p.m. today at BSP.

All games are played with 20-minute halves. Any matches tied when regulation ends go directly to penalty kicks.

In today’s 9 a.m. Gold Division quarterfinals for the girls, it’s Brownsville Lopez vs. Brownsville Veterans, Brownsville Pace vs. Laredo United, Juarez-Lincoln vs. Donna High and McAllen Memorial vs. Edinburg Vela.

The Silver Division quarterfinals for the girls start at 10:30 a.m., and in those matchups, it’s Weslaco High vs. Los Fresnos, Harlingen High vs. Laredo LBJ, Brownsville Hanna vs. San Benito and La Joya High vs. Edinburg Economedes.

By ROY HESS | THE BROWNSVILLE HERALD

Perhaps, more than anything, the McAllen Memorial Lady Mustangs are survivors.

To prove it, they have the Gold Division championship trophy for winning the 19th annual Brownsville ISD girls soccer tournament on Saturday.

The three-day, 32-team tournament running Thursday through Saturday at Brownsville Sports Park was a test of endurance with 126 games scheduled in all.

The Lady Mustangs weathered some long days, windy conditions, cooler temperatures in the 40s at night plus the challenge of playing 10 matches in three days.

Yet, it was all worthwhile when they rallied to defeat Pace 2-1 in Saturday’s Gold Division final.

“We had seven pool-play games (Thursday and Friday) and the first day we got here at 8 a.m. and our last scheduled game that day was 8 p.m.,” McAllen Memorial coach Matthew Kaiser said. “It was another long day Friday as we played at 8 a.m. again. Tournaments are great and horrible at the same time. But I like that our girls didn’t make excuses. They just found a way to win. When you get to the end of the tournament, you want to be able to say that everything we were up against, we found a way to overcome it.

“That’s what you want your team to get out of tournaments,” he added. “You always want to be moving forward, improving and not letting things bring you down, so I’m proud of these girls for that.”

In Saturday’s final, Pace went up 1-0 in the first half on a goal by Ariana Garcia. In the second half, Andrea Santana scored twice for the Lady Mustangs to provide her team with the comeback victory.

McAllen Memorial opened the day with a 1-0 win against Edinburg Vela in the quarterfinals as Carolina Guerrero tallied the Lady Mustangs’ lone goal. In the semifinals, Santana, Araceli Ramirez and Viviana Cruz each scored to give the Lady Mustangs a 3-0 victory against Donna High.

On the way home, Kaiser let his team choose the tournament MVP. The Lady Mustangs selected Victoria Tanguma, the team’s goalkeeper.

Pace reached the final by defeating Laredo United 1-0 in the quarterfinals and Brownsville Veterans Memorial 1-0 in the semifinals.

“It wasn’t just the final, but all the games we had in this tournament were completely tough — every single one of them,” Lady Vikings coach Jesus O. Villarreal said. “This is a very competitive tournament. You come out here, and sooner or later, you’re going to find out your team’s deficiencies because some other team is going to make you see them whether you like it or not.

“Thanks to God that we had a chance to play all the way to the championship,” Villarreal added. “It’s a long tournament and it’s tough, but I am taking away very positive things from it. I think we’ll be a strong team to face in future games.”

The top two teams in each of the four groups of pool play over the first two days advanced to Saturday’s Gold Division quarterfinals, while the third- and fourth-place teams in each group qualified for the Silver Division quarterfinals.

Saturday’s winner of the Silver Division was Harlingen High. The Lady Cardinals’ Alexa Gonzalez, a freshman, tallied the only goal of the match in Harlingen High’s 1-0 victory against San Benito in the Silver Division final.

Roy Hess covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @HessRgehess