By ROY HESS, Staff Writer

The Los Fresnos Lady Falcons repeated as champions at the 17th annual Brownsville ISD girls soccer tournament and received a little preview of the upcoming District 32-6A race along the way.

Los Fresnos captured another BISD title with a 2-1 victory Saturday against 32-6A rival Lopez in a final that went to penalty kicks.

The three-day, 28-team BISD Tournament was played at Brownsville Sports Park. The tournament’s first two days featured pool play before the top two teams from each of four groups advanced to Saturday’s quarterfinal competition.

One year ago, the Lady Falcons claimed the BISD crown with a 6-0 victory against Edinburg Economedes in the tournament final.

Gabby X. Mariscal, the Lady Falcons’ sophomore center midfielder, said winning again at the BISD event gives her team a lot of confidence as the start of 32-6A competition draws closer later this month.

“It’s a big accomplishment to win it for the second year in a row,” said Mariscal, who was named tournament MVP. “We’ve proved a point that it wasn’t just a one-time thing. It’s continuous.

“We definitely had a good season last year (going 27-4 and reaching the regional final), but that’s over now,” she added. “This shows that we’re coming back better than ever.”

After the tournament’s first two days were characterized by ideal weather, the sun was still shining brightly Saturday, but fierce winds hampered play.

In the final, Los Fresnos took a 1-0 lead early in the second half on a medium-range goal by Kateland Vela. The match became deadlocked at 1 near the end of regulation when Lopez’s Kimberly Hernandez sent a long ball toward the goal and it took a high bounce over the Los Fresnos goalkeeper before settling into the net.

Once regulation ended the game immediately went to penalties, and it didn’t take long to determine the winner.

The Lady Falcons went first and jumped out to a 2-0 advantage, which was good enough for the win as Mariscal and Rubi Soto converted their kicks. Meanwhile, Lopez’s first player sent her penalty kick wide right and the second had her try blocked by goalkeeper Ashley Ibarra, which clinched the championship for the Lady Falcons.

Los Fresnos, which won its group, defeated Lopez 2-1 during pool play Friday.

The Lady Falcons advanced to Saturday’s Gold Bracket final with wins against Edinburg North (1-0 PKs) and Brownsville Veterans Memorial (1-0) earlier in the day.

Lopez reached the final with wins earlier Saturday against Laredo United South (1-0) and McAllen High (1-0).

“Hey, we went to the final. It doesn’t get much better than that,” Lopez coach Alex Macias said after the match.

For Los Fresnos coach Patricia K. Hernandez, Saturday’s end result brought satisfaction mixed with reality.

“It was a roller coaster type of weekend (at this tournament),” Hernandez said. “We were caught in (tough) situations that we shouldn’t have been in, but our girls persevered, endured and we were able to push through to win it.

“This weekend tells us that we can’t underestimate our opponents and that we must continue to work hard in our practices to prepare for our first district game (Jan. 26),” she added. “Honestly, we can only take it one game at a time.”

Still, Hernandez exited the field on an upbeat note.

“It’s a great day to be a Falcon,” she said.

In Saturday’s Silver Division for teams finishing third and fourth in their groups, Edinburg Economedes was the winner with a 3-0 victory against Edinburg High in the final.

The Lady Jaguars were sparked by two goals from Krysta Armstrong and one from Ayssa Ozuna.

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

Saturday, Jan. 16

Tournaments

17th annual Brownsville ISD Tournament

At Brownsville Sports Park

Bracket Play

Gold Division

Quarterfinals

Brownsville Veterans Memorial 1, Hanna 0

Los Fresnos 1, Edinburg North 0, PKs

McAllen High 1, Pace 0

Lopez 1, Laredo United South 0

Semifinals

Los Fresnos 1, Brownsville Veterans Memorial 0

Lopez 1, McAllen High 0

Championship

Los Fresnos 2, Lopez 1, PKs

Silver Division

Division Quarterfinals

Edinburg High 1, La Joya High 0, PKs

Laredo LBJ 1, Rivera 0

Porter 2, Valley View 0

Edinburg Economedes 1, Harlingen High 0

Division semifinals

Edinburg High 1, Laredo LBJ 0, PKs

Ednburg Economedes 1, Porter 0

Division championship

Edinburg Economedes 3, Edinburg High 0

Edcouch-Elsa Showcase

Third-Place Game

Harlingen South vs. Edinburg Vela, not reported

Championship Game

Sharyland High vs. Edcouch-Elsa, not reported

Corpus Christi Tournament

No scores reported

Non-District

IDEA Frontier at Alamo IDEA, not reported

By ROY HESS, Staff Writer

Winning a soccer title at the Brownsville ISD Tournament is becoming a pretty good habit for the Porter Cowboys.

The Cowboys, ranked No. 1 in the Rio Grande Valley by RGVSports.com, repeated as a bracket champion at the 34th annual BISD Tournament with a come-from-behind 3-1 victory Friday against Harlingen South.

The two-day, 32-team tournament was played at Brownsville Sports Park.

Porter was the Gold Bracket champion, and Laredo United South was the Navy Bracket champion thanks to a 3-0 bracket final win against McAllen High, also Friday at BSP.

Porter and Laredo United South were scheduled to play Saturday to determine the overall tournament championship, but the match was canceled late Friday night.

It was just like last year when Porter and Rivera won bracket championships at the BISD Tournament and the scheduled overall championship match was canceled.

The Cowboys were 2014 BISD champions as they defeated Laredo United 2-1 for the overall tournament title.

The latest tournament title has Porter coach Jose Espitia feeling pretty good about his squad.

“I am very excited with the way our team looks,” Espitia said. “I knew we were going to give a good fight (in the tournament), but I didn’t expect for the boys to mature and bond as a family so quickly. They are working together like a well-oiled machine, and they played their hearts out in every single game at the tournament.”

Espitia said Friday’s bracket final match was a special moment because it marked the first time Porter went up against Harlingen South coach Julian Robles in a regular-season game. The Hawks had scrimmaged the Cowboys a few weeks ago.

Robles was a Porter assistant under Espitia for five years before he became the coach at Harlingen South prior to the 2015 season.

The Cowboys gave Robles the game ball after Friday’s match as a gesture of appreciation for how he is revitalizing the Hawks’ boys soccer program.

“It was special because it was our first official game against Coach Robles,” Espitia said. “He has turned that program around. They gave us a great final match. South started off very strong and they scored first.”

Porter battled back from a 1-0 deficit to lead 2-1 at halftime on goals by Anthony Cuellar and Enrique Soto. Roberto Briseno added a second-half goal for Porter to complete the tally.

“Porter is a very talented team, and I believe we stood tall against them on their home ground,” Robles said. “We wanted to take them out of their comfort zone by cutting off lanes and shortening the field.

“While we did many things right, at the end minor errors were our downfall,” Robles added. “We came out of the tournament with what we hoped for, and that was to play some talented, established and well-coached teams. We got the experience we wanted (from the tournament) and will now prepare for District (32-6A).”

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

Saturday, Jan. 16

Tournaments

34th annual Brownsville ISD Tournament

At Brownsville Sports Park

Tournament championship

Porter vs. Laredo United South, canceled

Bracket Play

Gold Bracket

Edinburg High 3, San Antonio Burbank 1

Weslaco East 1, Edinburg Economedes 0

Championship

Weslaco East 2, Edinburg High 1

Third-Place Game

Edinburg Economedes 5, San Antonio Burbank 2

Silver Bracket

PSJA North 1, Hidalgo 0

Donna High 1, Los Fresnos 0

Silver Final

PSJA North 1, Donna High 0

Silver Third-Place Game

Los Fresnos 3, Hidalgo 0

Bronze Bracket

Edinburg Vela 2, Corpus Christi Carroll 1

Corpus Christi King 1, Roma 0

Bronze Final

Corpus Christi King 3, Edinburg Vela 0

Bronze Third-Place Game

Roma 2, Corpus Christi Carroll 1, PKs

Copper Division

Corpus Christi Ray 3, Rockport 0

Kingsville 1, IWA 0

Copper Final

Corpus Christi Ray 4, Kingsville 1

Copper Third-Place Game

Rockport 5, IWA 2

Tournament MVPs: Angel Alejos, Weslaco East; Ghazi Sinno, Edinburg High. All-Tournament Team: Jonathon Gonzalez, Weslaco East; Roel Ramirez, Weslaco East; Roberto Lopez, Edinburg High; Jorge Castillo, Edinburg High; Mario Ferrer, Edinburg Economedes; Jesus Rodriguez, Edinburg Economedes; Kevin Govea, San Antonio Burbank; Ruben Ramon, San Antonio Burbank; Luis Garcia, PSJA North; Luis Aguirre, PSJA North; Victor Bravo, Donna High; Jorge Salinas, Donna High; Erick Arellano, Los Fresnos; Andy Garza, Corpus Christi King; Anson Belcher, Corpus Christi Ray.

Non-District

IDEA Frontier at Alamo IDEA, not reported

By ROY HESS, Staff Writer

The Los Fresnos girls soccer team has been a model of success in recent years, winning district titles four times during the past six seasons.

The Lady Falcons seem to have a new coach at the helm just about every year, yet changing coaches is something that hasn’t held them back at all. They once again appear quite capable of continuing their winning ways in 2016.

Los Fresnos is one of 28 teams playing in this weekend’s 17th annual BISD girls tournament at Brownsville Sports Park. The Lady Falcons are defending champions of the event. As Friday’s second day of pool play drew to a close, the Los Fresnos girls were looking good as a qualifier for Saturday’s bracket-play quarterfinals.

Patricia K. Hernandez, an assistant the past two seasons, has replaced Marissa Wood as the Lady Falcons’ coach. Hernandez sees good things ahead for the Los Fresnos girls as they attempt to duplicate or surpass last year’s program-best 27-4 season that included a first-time trip to the Region IV-6A final.

“We have a lot of new girls in our program,” Hernandez said. “We have the talent and we have the discipline to take it all the way again. We’re a united team. The girls are hungry to make another run at state.

“We have the core group of players from last year,” Hernandez added. “The additions to the team only complement what we already have with our returnees. I like the fact that our core of returning players is embracing the freshmen and other newcomers and really taking them under their wing. Their expectations for each other and their accountability is there.”

Coming within a single victory of becoming the first girls team from the Rio Grande Valley to advance to the UIL state tournament last season has left the Lady Falcons hungry for more.

“Even though we lost some players from last year, our bench has really been stepping up and we have three freshmen who have come in to fill the shoes of the ones no longer with us,” said Clarissa “Claire” Castaneda, a junior midfielder for the Lady Falcons. “Our District (32-6A) looks very strong again, and hopefully we can pull through and get another title like last year.

“This tournament is just showing us what our competition is as we play some of the teams in our district and also watch some of them,” Castaneda added. “From the look of it, our district is going to be just like last year, which is very tough.”

One of the freshmen making an impact for the Lady Falcons is forward Itzel Bochas. She scored both of Los Fresnos’ goals in a key 2-1 victory against 32-6A rival Lopez during a pool-play game Friday. Bochas scored within the first minute and added her second goal near the end of the match to break a tie and lift her team to victory.

“These girls mean everything to me,” Bochas said of her teammates. “They’re such an amazing team in every way.

“It was really difficult to score against a good team like Lopez, but it really wasn’t about me,” she added. “I’m just glad I had my teammates there to help me score. I honestly didn’t see that coming, but I’m really glad I was able to do what I did.

“We’re just getting started. We have many more games to go. We’re going to push through, and hopefully with God’s help we can get the district title. We want to bring that title home (again).”

By ROY HESS, Staff Writer

After two days of pool play, the Gold Division quarterfinals were determined Friday at the 17th annual Brownsville ISD girls soccer tournament at Brownsville Sports Park.

In Saturday’s 9 a.m. quarterfinals, it’s Hanna vs. Brownsville Veterans Memorial, Los Fresnos vs. Edinburg North, McAllen High vs. Pace and Lopez vs. Laredo United South.

The semifinals are scheduled for 10:30 a.m., with the tournament championship to follow at 12:30 p.m. on Field 1.

Pool-play group winners were Hanna, Los Fresnos, McHi and Laredo United South. Their quarterfinal opponents were runners-up in their respective groups.

Los Fresnos is the defending tournament champion. One year ago, the Lady Falcons defeated Edinburg Economedes in the final.

The 34th annual BISD boys tournament also is being played this weekend at BSP with 32 teams divided into two brackets.

Porter played Harlingen South in the Gold Bracket championship late Friday night. McHi went up against Laredo United South in the Navy Bracket championship, also late Friday night.

The overall championship of the boys tournament will be played at noon Saturday on the artificial turf field at BSP.

One year ago, Porter and Rivera were crowned bracket champions in the tournament, but an overall championship match between the two teams was canceled.

NOT TO WORRY

It’s been a relatively quiet early stretch of the season for the Rivera Raiders, who are defending state champions after capturing the inaugural Class 6A boys title in soccer last April with a 28-0 record.

The Raiders (5-3), participants in this weekend’s BISD Tournament, are going about the task of reloading their team following the departure of a number of talented players to graduation.

The Raiders played at The Woodlands Tournament last weekend and went 2-1, defeating Round Rock 2-1 and McKinney Boyd 5-0 but losing to Humble Kingwood 2-1.

Rivera then defeated McAllen Rowe 4-0 in a non-district home match Tuesday before starting play at the BISD Tournament. The Raiders lost to La Joya Juarez-Lincoln 4-0 in their first tournament game Thursday and came back to defeat Mission Veterans 4-0. On Friday, they suffered a 4-1 loss against PSJA Memorial before defeating Port Isabel 5-0.

“There’s only so much you can ask for (from your team at this point),” Rivera coach Salvador Garcia said. “You’re talking about (varsity) inexperienced players. Right now we just hope and pray we don’t get any more injuries and we’ll be OK. We just had one (in the tournament).

“I’m pleased with how we’re doing,” Garcia added. “We’re not playing our best soccer, but it’s still early in the season. Last year I told my players to be ready for April 18, which was the state final. Now I’m telling them to be ready for Jan. 26, which is the District (32-6A) opener. That’s all we’re looking at right now.”

MR. LONGEVITY

McAllen High’s Pat Arney is one of only a few coaches in the Valley who has been at his school coaching girls soccer since the UIL sport came to South Texas in 1997. UIL boys soccer started in the Valley in 1983.

It’s been quite a journey. Arney’s teams have made the playoffs every year. The Lady Bulldogs were the Valley’s first girls team to reach the Region IV-5A final in 2007. Only two Valley girls squads have accomplished that feat since then.

McHi’s girls soccer program achieved its 400th victory Thursday at the BISD Tournament with a 2-0 pool-play victory against Edinburg High. It’s believed to be a first in the Valley.

“We’re lucky that we’ve had really good players and good support from our administration, our athletic coordinators, our principals, our parents and everybody, so we’ve been pretty fortunate,” Arney said. “Things have changed (in Valley girls soccer), for sure. The girls are much more competitive now. Before, there were good teams (in the Valley), but it was just one or two. Now, it’s hard to say who should be the No. 1 team or who should be in the top 10 because there are so many good teams around, so that’s nice to see.”

Friday, Jan. 15

Boys scores

Tournaments

34th annual Brownsville ISD Tournament

At Brownsville Sports Park

Gold Bracket

Game 33: Hanna 3, La Joya Palmview 1

Game 34: Laredo Martin 4, Rio Grande City 2

Game 35: Mission High 3, Mission Veterans Memorial 2, PKs

Game 36: Raymondville def. Donna High, forfeit

Game 41: Porter 2, La Joya Juarez-Lincoln 0

Game 42: PSJA Memorial 4, Rivera 1

Game 43: Harlingen South 1, Laredo LBJ 0

Game 44: Weslaco High 4, Port Isabel 1

Game 55: Mission High 15, Raymondville 0

Game 56: Mission Veterans Memorial def. Donna High, forfeit

Game 60: Rivera 5, Port Isabel 0

Bracket fifth place

Game 53: Laredo Martin 2, LJ Pamview 1

Bracket seventh place

Game 54: Hanna 4, Rio Grande City 0

Bracket third place

Game 59: La Joya Juarez-Lincoln 4, Laredo LBJ 1

Bracket consolation championship

Game 62: PSJA Memorial 4, Weslaco High 2

Bracket championship

Game 61: Porter 3, Harlingen South 1

Navy Bracket

Game 37: Lopez 6, Mercedes 1

Game 38: Harlingen High 4, Laredo Alexander 0

Game 39: Donna North 4, McAllen Rowe 1

Game 40: San Antonio Antonian 8, Grulla 2

Game 45: McAllen High 5, St. Joseph Academy 0

Game 46: PSJA High 2, Pace 1

Game 47: Laredo United South 2, Edinburg North 0

Game 48: La Joya High 2, Brownsville Veterans Memorial 1

Game 51: Donna North 7, San Antonio Antonian 3

Game 52: McAllen Rowe 10, Grulla 2

Game 58: Pace 7, Brownsville Veterans Memorial 1

Bracket fifth place

Game 49: Game 49: Lopez 5, Harlingen High 1

Bracket seventh place

Game 50: Game 50: Laredo Alexander 3, Mercedes 1

Bracket third place

Game 57: Edinburg North 4, St. Joseph Academy 1

Bracket consolation championship

Game 63: La Joya High 1, PSJA High 0, PKs

Bracket championship

Game 64: Laredo United South 3, McAllen High 0

Gulf Coast Classic

Pool Play

Pool A

Corpus Christi Carroll 1, Rockport 0

Edinburg High 4, Hidalgo 0

Edinburg High 0, Corpus Christi Carroll 0

Hidalgo 1, Rockport 0

Hidalgo 3, Corpus Christi Carroll 1

Edinburg High 2, Rockport 0

Pool B

Corpus Christi King 2, Kingsville 0

Weslaco East 3, Los Fresnos 0

Los Fresnos 3, Corpus Christi King 0

Weslaco East 4, Kingsville 0

Corpus Christi King 1, Weslaco East 0

Los Fresnos 7, Kingsville 0

Pool C

San Antonio Burbank 1, Corpus Christi Ray 0

Edinburg Vela 1, PSJA North 1

Edinburg Vela 1, Corpus Christi Ray 0

PSJA North 0, San Antonio Burbank 0

PSJA North 1, Corpus Christi Ray 0

San Antonio Burbank 1, Edinburg Vela 0

Pool D

Edinburg Economedes 3, IWA 0

Donna High 1, Roma 0

Edinburg Economedes 2, Roma 0

Donna High 4, IWA 0

Donna 0, Edinburg Economedes 0

Roma 5, IWA 0

Girls scores

Tournaments

17th annual Brownsville ISD Tournament

At Brownsville Sports Park

Pool Play

Valley View 3, PSJA Memorial 1

Laredo LBJ 2, Edinburg Economedes 1, PKs

Laredo Martin 2, Edinburg High 1, PKs

Laredo United South 2, Edinburg North 1

Hanna 3, PSJA North 1

Los Fresnos 2, Lopez 1

McAllen High 2, Brownsville Veterans Memorial 0

Harlingen High 2, Rivera 0

La Joya High 5, Rio Hondo 0

La Joya Juarez-Lincoln 5, Progreso 0

Mission High 1, La Feria 0

La Joya Palmview 1, Hidalgo 0

Pace 2, PSJA Memorial 0

Edinburg Economedes 2, Donna High 0

Porter 1, Edinburg High 0

Edinburg North 1, PSJA High 0, PKs

PSJA North 3, Valley View 2, PKs

Laredo LBJ 2, Los Fresnos 1

McAllen High 2, Laredo Martin 0

Laredo United South 2, Harlingen High 1

Hanna 6, Rio Hondo 0

Lopez 6, Progreso 0

Brownsville Veterans Memorial 1, La Feria 0

Rivera 2, Hidalgo 0

La Joya High 2, Pace 1

La Joya Juarez-Lincoln 1, Donna High 0

Porter 1, Mission High 0, PKs

Palmview 1, PSJA High 0

Hanna 5, Valley View 0

Lopez 1, Laredo LBJ 0, PKs

Brownsville Veterans Memorial 3, Laredo Martin 0

Laredo United South 4, Rivera 0

PSJA North 5, Rio Hondo 0

Los Fresnos 8, Progreso 0

McAllen High 3, La Feria 1

Harlingen High 1, Hidalgo 0

Pace 4, Valley View 0

Laredo LBJ 2, Donna High 1

Laredo Martin 3, Porter 1

Laredo United South 4, PSJA High 0

La Joya High 1, PSJA Memorial 0

Edinburg Economedes 1, La Joya Juarez-Lincoln 0

Edinburg High 2, Mission High 0

Edinburg North 3, La Joya Palmview 0

Edcouch-Elsa Showcase

Winner’s Bracket

Sharyland High 2, Harlingen South 1, PKs

Edcouch-Elsa 3, Edinburg Vela 0

Consolation Bracket

Mission Veterans Memorial 2, Edinburg IDEA Quest 0

Grulla 2, Lyford 1, PKs

Edinburg IDEA Quest 7, Lyford 0

Non-District

Raymondville at Rio Grande City, not reported

By ROY HESS, Staff Writer

The Brownsville Veterans Memorial Chargers were a little down after their first game Thursday at the 34th annual Brownsville ISD boys soccer tournament.

The three-day, 32-team event is taking place at Brownsville Sports Park along with the 17th annual BISD girls tournament, which has a field of 28 teams and also runs three days.

The Chargers have nine starters back this season from last year’s playoff team, and they have high expectations for what their squad can accomplish in 2016.

But the coaches and players weren’t feeling all that great Thursday after the Chargers dropped their tournament opener 1-0 in penalty kicks against Laredo Alexander. Regulation play ended with a scoreless tie before Alexander prevailed 5-4 in penalties.

After that match, the Chargers were anxious to redeem themselves as they went against San Antonio Antonian later in the day in the consolation bracket.

“We have a lot of expectations to go far in the playoffs this year,” said Humberto Trevino, a senior midfielder for the Chargers. “I think this team has what it takes (to do well) if we do the right things on the field. We have the willingness to play together as a team, and we try to touch the ball as much as possible.

“Initially, our mentality was to win (the tournament),” Trevino added. “(We’re still using the tournament) to get used to each other on the field and to get back into the rhythm of playing a lot of games every week.

“We have real high expectations. We just need to get it together.”

One year ago, the Chargers finished fourth in District 32-6A and went on to dominate District 31-6A champion Edinburg North 3-0 in bi-district before being eliminated 2-1 in penalty kicks by a solid squad from La Joya Juarez-Lincoln during the second round of the playoffs.

Brownsville Veterans is motivated to do even better this season.

“We have very good communication on the field, we bond and that’s what is helping us,” said Estuardo Teran, a senior central defender for the Chargers. “Knowing we were so close last year (to advancing beyond the second round) has motivated us in believing we can achieve what we want to achieve and advance (farther).

“We just have to keep our heads up and look forward to the next games,” Teran added.

Brownsville Veterans coach Alberto Vasquez said that if anything, his team’s disappointing setback against Alexander should give the Chargers plenty of reasons to refocus and get back on track.

“We were off sync a little bit, and we didn’t necessarily play our game,” Vasquez said. “We didn’t move the ball around as quickly as we should have. We didn’t take care of the ball well enough to create the (scoring) opportunities we should have had.

“Alexander played a good game, and they were smart in their movements,” Vasquez added. “They didn’t leave much space for us (to maneuver), and then they took advantage of the PKs situation. I think we have a solid team. We just didn’t show it in our first tournament game, but as the predistrict schedule goes along, I think we’ve been getting better.

“We feel pretty good with the group we have. We just need to keep working harder and continue to make sure we don’t have any more game like this one we had today. With the type of district we have, we can’t afford to play like that (and expect to do well). We have to make sure we’re energized and ready to go (every game).”

Thursday, Jan. 14

Boys scores

Tournaments

34th annual Brownsville ISD Tournament

At Brownsville Sports Park

Navy Bracket

Game 1: Lopez 7, Pace 2

Game 2: McAllen High 6, Donna North 1

Game 3: St. Joseph Academy 3, McAllen Rowe 2

Game 4: Mercedes def. PSJA High

Game 5: Harlingen High 4, La Joya High 0

Game 6: Edinburg North 4, Grulla 1

Game 7: Laredo United South 4, San Antonio Antonian Prep 0

Game 8: Laredo Alexander 1, Brownsville Veterans Memorial 0, PKs (5-4)

Game 9: McAllen High 2, Lopez 1

Game 10: Pace 2, Donna North 0

Game 11: St. Joseph 6, Mercedes 2

Game 12: PSJA High 4, McAllen Rowe 3

Game 13: Edinburg North 3, Harlingen High 2

Game 14: La Joya High 5, Grulla 0

Game 15: Laredo United South 3, Laredo Alexander 1

Game 16: Brownsville Veterans 5, San Antonio Antonian 1

Gold Bracket

Game 17: La Joya Juarez-Lincoln 4, Rivera 0

Game 18: La Joya Palmview 4, Mission Veterans Memorial 1

Game 19: Porter 6, PSJA Memorial 1

Game 20: Hanna 3, Mission High 0

Game 21: Rio Grande City 1, Donna High 0

Game 22: Harlingen South 5, Port Isabel 2

Game 23: Laredo LBJ 3, Weslaco High 2, PKs

Game 24: Laredo Martin 17, Raymondville 0

Game 25: La Joya Juarez-Lincoln 2, La Joya Palmview 0

Game 26: Rivera 4, Mission Veterans Memorial 0

Game 27: Porter 2, Hanna 0

Game 28: PSJA Memorial 7, Mission High 6, PKs

Game 29: Harlingen South 9, Rio Grande City 1

Game 30: Port Isabel 1, Donna High 0

Game 31: LBJ 4, Laredo Martin 2

Game 32: Weslaco High 12, Raymondville 0

Girls scores

Tournaments

17th annual Brownsville ISD Tournament

At Brownsville Sports Park

Pool Play

Hanna 3, La Joya High 0

Lopez 2, La Joya Juarez-Lincoln 0

Brownsville Veterans Memorial 3, Mission High 0

Rivera 1, La Joya Palmview 0

Pace 7, Rio Hondo 0

Donna High 2, Progreso 0

Porter 1, La Feria 0

PSJA High 2, Hidalgo 0

PSJA Memorial 1, PSJA North 0

Los Fresnos 2, Edinburg Economedes 1, PKs

McAllen High 2, Edinburg High 0

Harlingen High 4, Edinburg North 3, PKs

Valley View 3, La Joya High 0

La Joya Juarez-Lincoln 1, Laredo LBJ 0

Mission High 2, Martin 1

Laredo United South 1, Laredo Palmview 0

Hanna 2, PSJA Memorial 0

Lopez 1, Edinburg Economedes 0

Brownsville Veterans Memorial 1, Edinburg High 0, PKs

Edinburg North 2, Rivera 0

Pace 2, PSJA North 1

Los Fresnos 5, Donna High 0

McAllen High 2, Porter 1

Harlingen High 4, PSJA High 0

PSJA Memorial 3, Rio Hondo 0

Edinburg Economedes 6, Progreso 0

Edinburg High 1, La Feria 0

Edinburg North 3, Hidalgo 0

La Joya High 1, PSJA North 0, PKs

Los Fresnos 2, La Joya Juarez-Lincoln 0

McAllen High 1, Mission High 0, PKs

Harlingen High 2, La Joya Palmview 1

Valley View 4, Rio Hondo 0

Laredo LBJ 3, Progreso 0

Laredo Martin 1, La Feria 0, PKs

Laredo United South 5, Hidalgo 0

Hanna 1, Pace 0, PKs

Lopez 4, Donna High 0

Brownsville Veterans Memorial 1, Porter 0

Rivera 1, PSJA High 0

Edcouch-Elsa Showcase

Sharyland High 4, Edinburg IDEA Quest 0

Harlingen South 3, Mission Veterans Memorial 0

Edinburg Vela 7, Grulla 0

Edcouch-Elsa 6, Lyford 0

By ROY HESS, Staff Writer

The Porter Cowboys are showing they are a soccer team to contend with after defeating highly regarded Hanna twice in three days.

With a 2-0 second-round win against Hanna on Thursday at the 34th annual Brownsville ISD Tournament, the Cowboys reached the championship semifinals of the Gold Bracket.

The BISD Tournament features a field of 32 boys teams divided into two brackets and runs through Saturday at Brownsville Sports Park. A 28-team girls tournament is also under way at BSP.

Porter, ranked No. 1 in the Rio Grande Valley this week by RGVSports.com, earned a 3-0 non-district win at Hanna, which previously was No. 1 and now is No. 3, on Tuesday. On Thursday at the tournament, the Cowboys received first-half goals from Ricky Vidal and Alexis Armendariz. Jose Pardillo and Marco Don Juan were credited with the assists.

“We knew it was not going to be easy,” Porter coach Jose Espitia said. “Hanna is a very strong team, and we are looking for those (types of) games to prepare us for district.

“Our boys played their hearts out every single minute of the match because once again it was a ‘Clasico,’” Espitia added. “Then again, this is just preseason and our main focus is (our upcoming) district competition because that’s what counts (the most).”

GOLD BRACKET

While Porter reached the Gold Bracket championship semifinals, so did La Joya Juarez-Lincoln, Harlingen South and either Laredo Martin or Laredo LBJ, teams which met in a late game Thursday.

One of today’s more interesting tournament matchups will have Porter playing La Joya Juarez-Lincoln at 11 a.m. on Field 2 at BSP. The winner goes to the Gold Division final against either Harlingen South, Laredo Martin or Laredo LBJ at 7 p.m. today, also on Field 2.

NAVY BRACKET

Reaching the championship semifinals in Navy bracket were St. Joseph Academy, McAllen High and Edinburg North. The fourth spot in the Navy bracket semifinals will be taken by either Laredo United South or Laredo Alexander. They played a late game Thursday.

This is SJA’s third year at the BISD Tournament, and it’s the first time the Bloodhounds have reached the championship semifinals.

The Bloodhounds opened Thursday with a 3-2 win against McAllen Rowe before downing Mercedes 6-2 in the second round.

“You have a lot of amazing teams, especially from Brownsville, here at this tournament,” SJA coach Tino Villarreal said. “But it just hasn’t been that great of a tournament for Brownsville as right now you see some of the Brownsville schools being taken out of the championship bracket. It’s just an honor for us to make it this far.

“We used to bring teams to this tournament, and our goal was just to be competitive,” Villarreal added. “This year our goal is to actually try to win it.”

SJA next faces McHi at 11 a.m. today on the BSP artificial turf field.

By ROY HESS, Staff Writer

Brownsville Sports Park will be a busy place for high school soccer activity during the next three days as the annual Brownsville ISD boys and girls tournaments get under way.

The tournaments begin at 9 a.m. today and runs through Saturday.

The 34th annual BISD boys tournament will feature 32 teams divided into two brackets, with the overall champion to be determined at noon Saturday when the two bracket winners square off on BSP’s artificial turf field. The 17th annual BISD girls tournament has attracted 28 teams for pool play during the first two days. The top two finishers in each of four groups after pool play is completed will advance to Saturday’s 9 a.m. Gold Division quarterfinals. The championship of the girls event is scheduled at 12:30 p.m. Saturday on Field 1 at BSP.

It figures to be a hectic three days of soccer with a combined 163 games scheduled during the two tournaments.
Mother Nature appears willing to cooperate and provide favorable playing conditions for the multitude of boys and girls teams coming to BSP from across South Texas, including squads from the Rio Grande Valley, Laredo and elsewhere.

“Nice weather and soccer usually don’t go hand in hand, but I hope God will bless us this weekend,” said Lopez coach Amadeo Escandon, the boys tournament director.

When asked what he hopes his team can accomplish at the tournament, Escandon said, “We are trying to fill in a few gaps (in our lineup) and fix a few minor problems. This tournament should give us the opportunity to do that.”

Boys teams participating in the tournament that are ranked in this week’s RGVSports.com top 10 include No. 1 Porter, No. 3 Hanna, No. 5 La Joya Juarez-Lincoln, No. 6 Brownsville Veterans Memorial, No. 8 Lopez, No. 9 McAllen High and No. 10 St. Joseph Academy.

The undefeated Bloodhounds (7-0) are hoping to make some noise this year. It’s their third season to participate in the BISD event.

“We’re really excited (about the tournament),” said Jose Kauachi, a senior attacking midfielder for SJA. “It used to be that we just wanted to do well (if possible), and now we’re looking forward to advancing in it and maybe even winning it.”

One year ago, Porter and Rivera were bracket champions. The scheduled overall championship match on the final day between the Cowboys and Raiders was canceled, leaving Brownsville with two tournament winners for the boys.

Pace coach Jesus O. Villarreal is the girls tournament director.

“I’m more than sure that the competitive level has increased dramatically across the board since the first BISD Tournament was established (for the girls in 2000),” Villarreal said. “Many teams have used this tournament to polish up any strategies and/or players before district begins. We hope that’s also the case this year, and we want to wish all participants the best of luck. Our goal is to create a soccer tournament that fosters competitive games, fair play and good sportsmanship.

“It seems that the weather should be OK, and we hope that it stays that way in order to carry on with our original plan (for a well-played tournament),” he added. “I want to thank the Brownsville coaches for helping out in this endeavor.”

Participating girls teams that are ranked this week by RGVSports.com include No. 4 Lopez, No. 5 McHi, No. 6 Los Fresnos, No. 8 Edinburg Economedes and No. 10 Hanna.

The Los Fresnos Lady Falcons are defending tournament champions. In last year’s final they defeated Economedes 6-0.

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

There was a time back in the 1980s when the soccer matchup between Porter and Hanna was commonly known as “El Clasico” because the Cowboys and Golden Eagles annually were considered the top two teams in the Rio Grande Valley.

Actually, those times aren’t too far removed from the present days of UIL soccer in South Texas.

Porter and Hanna added another chapter to their “El Clasico” rivalry Tuesday at Hanna as the Cowboys, ranked No. 2 in the Valley by RGVSports.com, came away with a 3-0 non-district win against No. 1 Hanna.

All three of Porter’s goals came during the second half. The Cowboys just seemed to have a little bit more on the offensive end than the Eagles, and Porter’s defense stood up to every challenge as well.

“Hanna vs. Porter is always a classic game, and we knew it was going to be a tough one this time,” said Uriel Sepulveda, a senior midfielder and captain for the Cowboys. “We had a tough weekend at Houston (in a tournament there). We had a lot of injuries, but we came here with what we had tonight.

“It’s a great feeling,” he added. “Winning against Hanna at their home is not easy, but we never lost focus and kept doing what we know to do (to win).”

The Cowboys went ahead 1-0 during the 58th minute when the ball was moved around on a couple of rapid passes between teammates Anthony Cuellar, Ricky Vidal and Enrique Soto, whose shot from 20 yards found the net. On a pass from Cuellar, Vidal received the ball about 10 yards away from the goal, and he quickly diverted it back to Soto, who did the rest.

It became 2-0 during the 70th minute when Omar Estrada received a centering pass from the left side by Alexis Armendariz and scored from close range.

With three minutes remaining, Alexis Anzures completed the tally by blasting in a shot from 35 yards to make it 3-0.

“This was like the ‘Clasicos’ of the 1980s (all over again with Hanna No. 1 and Porter No. 2), right?” Cowboys coach Jose Espitia said. “We had heard so many good things about Hanna. We had heard that they were like the strongest team in the Valley and the favorite to take the District 32-6A crown, so we took it as a test. We knew it would be a good challenge.

“We told our guys it was going to be a ‘Clasico,’” Espitia added. “A number of our players — six of them — were freshmen and they remember when we played here at Hanna in 2013, the year Hanna had such a great team and went to the state final, almost winning it all. That year we gave Hanna a very good game and we lost on what we thought was kind of a questionable goal.

“Now Hanna has another very good team. We just came out (motivated) tonight to play a ‘Clasico.’ It’s a game where it doesn’t matter who’s on the field. We even sent out an alternate starting lineup because we wanted all the players to experience what it’s like to play in a game like this one before District (32-5A) begins for us. We were subbing and trying to split the time so all our guys could play and experience it.”

Up next, each team will be playing at the Brownsville ISD Tournament beginning Thursday at Brownsville Sports Park.

In fact, there could even be a rematch between the Eagles and Cowboys on Thursday. If each team wins its opening game in the tournament, they’ll face each other for the second time in three days in the second round later in the day.

By ROY HESS, Staff Writer

PORT ISABEL — St. Joseph Academy’s unbeaten soccer record remains intact.

The Bloodhounds, ranked No. 10 in the Rio Grande Valley by RGVSports.com, improved to 6-0 on the season with a 6-1 non-district triumph Friday against Port Isabel at Tarpon Stadium.

“We started playing better (last month) two games into our season, and right now we’re picking up momentum,” said Jose Kauachi, a senior attacking midfielder for the Bloodhounds who scored his squad’s first goal Friday. “You can see the team improving, and I’m really confident that we’re going to continue to get better with hard practice and giving it all we’ve got.”

All six of SJA’s goals came during the first half. The first two were scored on headers off corner kicks beginning during the seventh minute when Kauachi sent one into the net following a corner taken from the right side by Andres Rico.

After that came goals by Mario Garcia, Gerardo Moses, Miguel Guerra, Rico and Guerra again. Each of the goals came from close range except a 25-yard blast taken from near the middle of the field by Rico. His goal during the 28th minute made it 5-0.

The lead was 6-0 at intermission.

“It’s good to play,” said SJA coach Tino Villarreal, whose team began its TAPPS season in November. “We’ve been wanting to play games, and now that the UIL season is off and running, it’s good for us to get out there and see different teams and different challenges.

“I think we started off a little flat tonight,” Villarreal added. “It took a couple of corner kicks and headers to spark us and get us going. I told the boys that we shouldn’t have to wait for those moments to start playing well. I thought after those corner kicks (during the seventh and 12th minutes) we distributed the ball well, we passed the ball, we moved better, we ran the angles well and we took some really good shots.

“We started playing the type of soccer that it’s going to take for us to go deep in the (TAPPS) playoffs again.”

The Bloodhounds made a number of substitutions during the second half. The closest they came to scoring throughout the final 40 minutes was a shot that went off the right post with 28 minutes left.

Port Isabel, playing its season opener, recorded its lone goal on a penalty kick with 24 minutes remaining.

SJA next plays at Raymondville at 6 p.m. Tuesday, and the next action for the Tarpons will be Thursday at the Brownsville ISD Tournament. The Bloodhounds also are playing in the BISD Tournament.

By ROY HESS, Staff Writer

St. Joseph Academy is enjoying one of its best swimming seasons.

The Bloodhounds are holding their own at meets against the Rio Grande Valley’s bigger public schools while preparing for TAPPS regional and state competition during the coming weeks.

“We have very good swimmers, and they’re very dedicated,” SJA coach Jerry Garza said. “They’ve been practicing every day, sometimes twice.

“Our swimmers have been pushing it,” he added. “Some of them are freshmen and sophomores. They’re trying their hardest, and they keep getting faster. Little by little their times are dropping, some of them even by 2 seconds (from their previous competition), so they’ve been doing very well.”

Swimmers for the Bloodhounds’ boys team include Adrian Fierro, Luis Davila, Cesar Vega, Esteban Gonzalez and Jorge Lee. For the SJA girls, the swimmers include Jessie Hainley, Diana Fierro, Sofia Douglas, Miren Aponte and Paulina Varela.
Adrian Fierro has set school records multiple times this season. The records have come in the 50 and 100 freestyles. Davila has set a school record in the 200 freestyle.

Hainley, Douglas, Aponte and Diana Fierro are close to setting a school record in the 200 freestyle relay, Garza said.
The SJA coach said it helps his swimmers to go against top competitors from South Texas at meets in the Valley.

“Since we’re in TAPPS, we aren’t in a district with schools here in the Valley, and our main competition is from San Antonio and Austin,” Garza said. “It’s a good experience for us to see what the (public) schools have here. Participating against UIL schools in these (Valley) meets allows our swimmers to really compete at a high level and see where they stand.”

The SJA swimmers are preparing for a TAPPS regional meet Jan. 29 in San Antonio. The TAPPS state meet is scheduled Feb. 12, also in San Antonio.

EYES ON A RETURN TO STATE: Of the five Metro-area athletes who made it to the UIL swimming & diving state meet in Austin last year, four of them have a chance to return in 2016.

The swimmers who went to state last year, each in two events, were Brownsville Veterans Memorial’s Jonathan Ashford (100 freestyle and 100 breaststroke), Los Fresnos’ Ivana Besteiro (50 and 100 freestyles) and Hanna’s Maya Athena Imperial (200 individual medley and 500 freestyle).

Local divers advancing to state last year were Lopez’s Thadey Diaz and Hanna’s Raul Garcia.

Only Garcia has graduated, and the others are hoping to do well again at upcoming district and regional competitions in an effort to make it back to state, which is scheduled Feb. 19 and 20 in Austin.

UPCOMING: Friday and Saturday, Pre-District meet, Harlingen Aquatic Center; Jan. 21 and 22, District 32-5A meet, Margaret M. Clark Aquatic Center in Brownsville; Jan. 29 and 30, District 32-6A meet, Harlingen Aquatic Center; Feb. 5 and 6, Region VIII-6A meet, Margaret M. Clark Aquatic Center; Feb. 5 and 6, Region VIII-5A meet, Corpus Christi CISD Natatorium.

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