By ROY HESS, Staff Writer
Some soccer teams are blessed with a number of experienced seniors. The Pace Vikings are one of them.
With 15 seniors on this year’s squad, the Vikings are a band of brothers, a rather large one at that.
All of them share the same goal of returning to the playoffs and making a deep run into the postseason.
So far, reaching those objectives appears quite possible considering the way Pace’s veteran group of players is performing.
“It means a lot to be a member of this team,” said David Morales, a senior midfielder on the wing. “We’re united, and we’re a family. We’re playing together to achieve our goals.”
Added Eduardo Gamboa, a senior goalkeeper, “I think we have a pretty good chance of going farther (in the playoffs) than we did last year (when we advanced three rounds). We have a great team with a lot of returning seniors. We’ve been together all four years, and there’s a pretty good connection between all of us.”
Last season marked a breakthrough showing for the Vikings under first-year coach Mario A. Zamora as Pace returned to the Class 5A playoffs for the first time since 2010. The Vikings surprised Valley View 2-0 in bi-district before defeating Corpus Christi Moody 3-1 in the area round. Then came a 2-1 loss to Porter on penalty kicks in the regional quarterfinals.
Coming so close against a strong Porter team one year ago in the third round has given the Vikings additional confidence and inspired them to reach higher in 2016.
“We’ve been together four years, and we have great chemistry,” said Juan Garza, a senior forward. “What we did last year and the (close) loss to Porter just motivates us more for this year and makes us want to go even farther. I think we have the potential to do it.”
The Vikings (6-2, 18 points) enter Friday’s 6 p.m. home game against Donna High (4-4, 13 points) as the second-place team in District 32-5A behind Porter (8-0, 24 points). Donna High is fourth in district.
The boys game at Pace will be followed by the girls match between the Lady Vikings (6-2, 17 points) and Bravettes (0-8, one point).
Besides Morales, Gamboa and Garza, other seniors among those contributing to the Vikings’ success include Benlly Galvan, Jorge Perez, Johan Rios, Hector Rojas, Alberto Renteria, Abel Jaramillo, Marcelino Lopez, Geovani Martinez, Efrain Gutierrez, Edgar Martinez, Luis Antonio Guerrero and Alejandro Castaneda.
“On this team, we all know that we have each other’s backs,” said Renteria, a senior forward/midfielder.
Rios and Jaramillo are the team’s captains.
“This is my fourth year at Pace, and I’m very proud to be a Viking,” said Jaramillo, a senior midfielder. “I’m certain we can do even better this year. We’re a family, and we’re accomplishing a lot of things together.
“The goal for us in our last year (as seniors) is to continue winning and make it to state,” he added. “I think we have a very good chance.”
Added Rojas, “We’re more than friends, we’re brothers. We’re playing the style of soccer our coach wants with good team chemistry. We’re doing things on the field together with a lot of desire.”
Zamora said that after one full season together the players now are more comfortable with him and he is more familiar with what they can do.
“This team is mostly seniors, and they’re expecting to do really well this year,” Zamora said. “Everybody is putting a strong effort into practices and into the games. I know the mentality on the team is different this year. (After seeing what they could do last season) the guys have started to believe in themselves more.
“We started kind of low (in confidence) last year, and then with what we did in the playoffs it helped build up something for this year,” he added. “I’m pleased to have this group of players, most of them seniors. I hope the best for them this season and with their lives (after Pace).”
Roy Hess covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @HessRgehes