By ROY HESS | The Brownsville Herald
The Porter Cowboys are doing their best to defend the Southmost Classic championship they won one year ago.
Thursday’s first day of the second annual Southmost Classic marked the beginning of the 2019 UIL soccer season.
The three-day, 13-team tournament at Lopez and Porter featured pool play Thursday with the same format continuing at 9 a.m. today at both sites.
Porter won the tournament last season with a 1-0 victory over Lopez in the final.
The Cowboys, playing on their home field, were only one of three teams in the tournament to win two matches Thursday. Rivera and Laredo LBJ were the other teams to win twice.
The Cowboys opened the day with a 2-0 triumph against La Joya High before edging Rivera 1-0.
Oscar Garcia and Daniel Martinez tallied the goals for Porter against La Joya High. Alan Romero scored the only goal of the match against Rivera.
Porter coach Jose Espitia said it was a solid start to the new season.
“Well, it was a positive day for us,” the Cowboys coach said. “The main goal is to prepare for District (32-5A), and it seems we are moving in the right direction.
“We had a good test today against a great program like Rivera, and I think our boys showed character,” he added. “Now we need to keep working and see what tomorrow has for us.”
Rivera came back after its narrow loss to Porter and beat Port Isabel 5-0 in the final game of the day at Porter. The Raiders downed Edinburg High 3-1 in the first match of the day at Porter.
LBJ defeated Port Isabel 3-0 and La Joya High 4-2, both games at Porter.
Also playing at Porter, Edinburg High bounced back from its 3-1 loss to Rivera to beat Port Isabel 3-0 before tying Laredo United South 1-1.
The games at Lopez also were closely contested as Los Fresnos edged the Lobos 2-1 in the first match of the day. Lopez rebounded to defeat Donna High 4-1, while Los Fresnos later tied Edinburg North 2-2.
In other action at Lopez, McAllen High downed Edinburg North 2-1 and tied Laredo United 0-0.
The point standings in each of the two groups figure to become a little clearer today when pool play continues.
There will be pool play Saturday morning as well before the winners of each pool play for the championship at 6 p.m. Saturday at Porter. The second-place teams from each group play for third place at 6 p.m. Saturday at Lopez.
(Courtesy photo by Maria Esteves)