MISSION — When Kenan Nuñez walks the Mission Veterans High School hallways these days, the questions have changed from those wondering about the Patriots girls soccer team.
“They don’t ask anymore if we won,” the fifth-year head coach said. “Now they’re asking how much we’ve won by.”
At a school known for perennial success, especially on the gridiron and the volleyball court, Mission Veterans girls soccer is carving its way along a similar successful path. The Patriots won their second straight District 30-5A title, going unbeaten along the way — also for a second straight year.
“That was the goal since the beginning of the year,” said Aliyah Pelayo, a junior forward who leads the team in district goals scored with 18, placing her 10th in the Valley. “Coach told us that no team has won back to back, so we wanted to make history. It was tougher this year. Teams played us harder, but we were able to accomplish it.”
The Patriots, 9-0-1 in district play, are set for a rematch with District 29-5A No. 4 seed Corpus Christi Flour Bluff in the bi-district round of the playoffs. Time, date and place will be announced Monday. Flour Bluff won last year’s meeting 2-1.
“We know we can play with them. It was a great game last year,” team captain Gabby Longoria said. “It’s not revenge, but more for vindication this time. It’s going to come down to who wants it more.”
The team has battled through a plethora of injuries throughout the year and, at one point or another, each of their three goalkeepers has been hurt. Mia Sanchez, the district MVP last year, is also out for the season with an Achilles injury. She was leading the team in goals and assists before she was injured about three weeks ago.
“She’s the one that dictates pace and tempo for our team,” Nuñez said. “Aliyah stepped up big time when she went down.”
Pelayo scored in every match this year for the Patriots, including a pair of 1-0 wins against La Joya High and second-place Laredo Martin. The only goal given up this year by Mission Veterans came in a 1-1 tie with Martin during the first round of district play. Vets won that match in a shootout.
Mission Veterans scored 39 district goals this season in their 10 matches. Pelayo is the offensive firepower while Longoria, also a junior on a team that will return all but three players, is the stop gap player who has been asked to perform many tasks and play multiple positions.
“I can put her anywhere,” Nuñez said. “She can play every position and has been so valuable filling in wherever we need her, especially with the injuries we’ve had this season. She’s going to do whatever she needs to do to help the team.”
The team uses ball control as its best defense, usually keeping the ball on their side of the field up to 70% of the time, Nuñez said.
When Nuñez first arrived at Mission Veterans, girls soccer was more of an afterthought. Winning has changed that, gaining interest both in the eyes of the school and in the eyes of District 30-5A opponents. The Patriots are standing firmly now at the top of the District 30-5A food chain.
“There was a time when we were looking for targets to go after, to show what we could do,” he said. “Now, we’re the ones carrying the target.”