By ROY HESS, Staff Writer
Considering its brief history, Brownsville Veterans Memorial, which opened in 2010, already has developed a solid record of making it to the playoffs in boys soccer.
Out of the five seasons the Chargers have fielded a varsity team in the sport, they’ve advanced to the postseason four times. Initially, the Chargers went to the playoffs in Class 4A in 2011 and 2012, capturing the school’s first district title in a team sport in 2012.
Brownsville Veterans missed the postseason in 2013, its first school year in Class 5A, before qualifying for the playoffs in 2014 in 5A as well as this season in 6A.
In Brownsville, however, it’s not enough just to reach the playoffs, not when other city schools are going to the UIL state tournament almost every year.
With that in mind, the Chargers are certainly happy to be back in the postseason, but their feeling of satisfaction won’t be fully realized until they win their first playoff game and make a good run beyond the bi-district round.
“It’d be fantastic (to go far in the playoffs),” said Raul Mata, a senior defender and multi-year starter for the Chargers. “Everybody still thinks of us as the underdogs, even though we continue to go to the playoffs. We want to get more respect (by doing well), and it would be pretty cool, too.
“We know the playoffs will be hard,” Mata added. “We have to take advantage of every shot we can get.”
Along with Mata, other defensive starters for the Chargers are Jesus Arenas, Abel Martinez and goalkeeper Daniel Alanis.
The midfielders are Humberto Treviño, Jaime Martinez, Jesus Gomez, Carlos Enrique Rioja and Jesus Muñiz, while the forwards are Eduardo Guzman and Gabriel Montoya.
Players helping off the bench include Humberto Aguillon, Hector Ramiro Gomez, Ramon Perez Del Bosque and Estuardo Teran.
“It’s been a constant thing for us this season to shuffle people in and out of various positions,” Chargers coach Alberto Vasquez said. “There are some guys who have played multiple positions.
“We’ve always had a team concept,” Vasquez added. “The players understand that their role is whatever the team needs at a specific time. To be honest, I think this is the first time we’ve come into a season feeling that this is a true team in every aspect. These players feel very united and they play hard for each other. I think it’s evident on the field.”
The Chargers have one more District 32-6A game scheduled this week against Lopez. Each team is 7-6 in district with 22 points. Whichever of them wins, whether it’s in regulation, overtime or penalty kicks, that team will be the third-place finisher in 32-6A behind conference champion Rivera and runner-up Hanna. The loser between the Chargers and Lobos still goes to the playoffs as the district’s fourth-place qualifier.
After rallying from a 1-0 halftime deficit to defeat Los Fresnos 3-2 on Saturday, the Brownsville Veterans players believe they have what it takes to do well in the playoffs this season.
“Not going past the first round of the playoffs is something I’m not really proud of, but it’s something we have to overcome,” said Jaime Martinez, a team captain and four-year starter. “So far, I think this is the best team we’ve had as a ‘team-team.’ I believe we can go prettyfar with it because it’s all about teamwork, and that’s what we have this year.”
Added Guzman, a first-year starter at forward, “I’m very happy that we’re going to the playoffs since it’s my first year on the varsity and because it’s my last year as well, so I’m really glad.
“I like that this team always gets along together very well,” he added. “We laugh together and fool around with each other. We talk about things and what we want to do, so I feel good about our chances. We have to keep practicing hard and getting stronger for the playoffs because we’re going to go against one of the top teams from the other District (31-6A), so we’ll see what happens.”
Roy Hess covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @HessRgehess.