By ROY HESS, Staff Writer
Brownsville boasts three district champions in boys soccer this season, and that’s a first.
St. Joseph Academy won a TAPPS district championship trophy for the first time last month, and now, the Rivera Raiders have won District 32-6A and the Porter Cowboys are District 32-5A champions.
In district, the Raiders are 13-0 and the Cowboys are 12-0. Each team has high expectations for the playoffs. The Bloodhounds’ season already has ended as they reached the TAPPS state semifinals.
Not surprisingly, neither the Raiders nor the Cowboys are overly excited about finishing first in their respective districts. With aspirations of going to state foremost on their minds, they view winning a district title as simply one step on the path to where they want to go.
When Rivera defeated Hanna 2-0 on Friday at BrownsvilleSportsParkto claim the outright 32-6A crown, Raiders coach Salvador Garcia said, “We spoke about it before (as a team). It’s one of the trophies that’s nice to have (when you win district), but it’s something that was not in our (greater) plans. Our plans are to have two other trophies (from the regional and state tournaments). Now we’re looking at having three trophies, that’s the plan.”
The reaction to winning the outright 32-5A title last week was much the same by Porter coach Jose Espitia.
“Well, it’s always nice to win a district title, but our goal is bigger than that,” Espitia said. “Every game is a step closer (to state).
“I am proud of our boys because they have worked very hard since the offseason,” he added. “I just hope they stay humble and continue on the same path.”
Porter closes its district schedule with home games at 6 p.m. Tuesday and Friday against PSJA High and Mercedes, respectively.
According to their schedule, the Raiders have one district game remaining at 7:15 p.m. Friday against San Benito at Brownsville Sports Park.
The playoffs start March 26.
BATTLE FOR THIRD
The Lopez Lobos and Brownsville Veterans Memorial Chargers meet in their 32-6A finale at 7:15 p.m. Thursday at Lopez to determine the district’s third-place finisher. They share 7-6 records with 22 points each. Each team already has qualified for the playoffs.
“I think we’re evenly matched and we have something to play for besides pride, which is to determine which team goes into the playoffs as third place and which as fourth,” said Lopez coach Amadeo Escandon, whose Lobos prevailed 2-1 in overtime at Brownsville Veterans during the first round of district Feb. 17.
Also, Lopez is trying to break out of a four-game losing streak.
Brownsville Veterans coach Alberto Vasquez said it’s more important for his team to go into the playoffs riding the momentum of a win as opposed to whether the Chargers finish third or fourth in district.
“We want to win the game just to win the game,” the Chargers coach said. “We don’t want to go into the playoffs coming off a loss. We want to win every game. We’re not going into it thinking we’re going to lose so we can be this seed or that seed (and go to a particular playoff bracket). We’re going to try to win just because that’s the way we are.”
PLAYOFF BOUND
The Port Isabel Tarpons (4-4, 14 points) will go into the Class 4A playoffs as the runner-up from District 32-4A behind league champ Progreso (7-1, 21 points). The Tarpons have one district game remaining at 6 p.m. Tuesday at Progreso.
The Port Isabel girls (6-4, 18 points), playing their second season of UIL soccer, also are headed to the playoffs as the third-place team from their district.
Roy Hess covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @HessRgehess.