By ROY HESS, Staff Writer
The St. Joseph Academy Bloodhounds want to take the next step in the TAPPS soccer playoffs.
The Bloodhounds (15-3-2) have never won more than one game in the postseason, so if they can get past Dallas Bishop Lynch (15-4) in Saturday’s TAPPS quarterfinal at 1 p.m. at San Antonio Central Catholic’s Bob Benson Field, they can make some history for their school.
“We’re excited, we really are,” said SJA coach Tino Villarreal, whose team is coming off Tuesday’s 2-1 victory at home over Dallas Bishop Dunne in the opening round of the playoffs. “We’ve received so much support from everyone.”
Saturday’s winner advances to face Houston Awty International or Tomball Concordia Lutheran on Tuesday at a neutral site in the TAPPS semifinals. The state championship will be played Feb. 28 in Waco.
“It should be a great game against Bishop Lynch with great weather on a great (artificial) turf field at Central Catholic,” Villarreal said. “There’s no excuse for us not to play our best soccer.”
When asked about his impressions of Bishop Lynch, Villarreal said, “They’re a team with a lot of speed that has a tradition of being very successful. I think we’re evenly matched, each team with different strengths.”
Bishop Lynch won its opening-round playoff game 3-2 in penalty kicks Tuesday against San Antonio Antonian, a team the Bloodhounds defeated at home on back-to-back days in December. The Bloodhounds’ scores against Antonian were 3-2 in penalty kicks and 1-0.
SJA’s goals against Bishop Dunne on Tuesday were scored by a pair of sophomores, attacking center midfielder Jose Kauache and forward Mario Garcia.
“It was a relief that we could win and go on to the next playoff game,” Kauachesaid. “It only motivates us more to keep going. We know our opponent in the next round has very good soccer players, so for sure it’s going to be a tough game. We need to keep practicing hard and playing together.”
Added Garcia, “It’s really fun to play on this team.We get along very well, and that gives us the energy we need to keep going and always try to do our best on the field.”
An additional bonus for SJA fans attending Saturday’s soccer game will be that the Bloodhounds’ junior varsity and varsity boys basketball teams are playing at Central Catholic starting at 3:30 p.m. that day as well.
Roy Hess covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @HessRgehess.