By ROY HESS, Staff Writer
Seeing a Rio Grande Valley soccer team win a state championship never gets old, especially when it involves one from Brownsville.
Being present to write stories about each of the Valley’s five UIL state title wins dating back to 2004 ranks as something pretty unforgettable.
Whether or not someone is a soccer fan, anyone from the Valley — particularly Brownsville— can’t help but at least feel a little additional pride for South Texas when these teams accomplish such remarkable feats, many times against ultra talented teams from the state’s largest metro areas.
That was the feeling Saturday night in Georgetown at the UIL state tournament when the Rivera Raiders captured the first Class 6A championship in boys soccer with a 2-0 win against Katy Cinco Ranch in the state final.
Rivera’s “team of destiny,” as described by Raiders coach Salvador Garcia, received its reward and completed its mission with a 28-0 record.
There have been many great Brownsville soccer teams, and there likely will be many more in the years ahead. This Rivera squad, with its rare combination of three go-to scoring threats, precise passing in the midfield and an unyielding-when-it-needs-to-be defense, deserves strong consideration as one of the best, if not the best, teams the city has produced.
Just how many Valley teams have won a UIL state title with an undefeated record? Only the Raiders.
Let the debate begin.
Each state championship has its own unique memories.
There were some guys named “ Bebo” (Jose Ramos) and “ Chicle ” (Enrique Rivera), each with 30 goals or so, who led Lopez to a 2-1 victory over favored Brenham for the Class 4A state title in 2004.
Playing Lopez in Corpus Christi because the originally scheduled final in Georgetown had been rained out, Brenham boasted a 32-game winning streak and had lost only once all season. Still, after only 11 minutes the Lobos were up 2-0 and went on to win before a vocal crowd of Valley supporters outnumbering the Brenham fans two to one at Cabaniss Field.
In 2006, Porter played against a dominating Coppell team in the Class 5A final in Round Rock. Taking full advantage of the precious few shots on goal the Cowboys enjoyed, Jorge Briones sent two of them into the net, including a stunner in overtime, as Porter somehow prevailed 2-1 in OT.
Then there was Hidalgo taking the 4A title in 2009 at Georgetown thanks to Bertin Hernandez’s long-range goal on an extreme angle from the left side during the first half for the initial score in the Pirates’ 2-0 win over Mesquite Poteet. There were tears in the eyes of Hidalgo coach Esequiel Morales after the game as he couldn’t help but think about how proud his former coach at McAllen Memorial, the late Pat Leal, would be of the victory.
Sharyland High needed a pair of comebacks against Katy Morton Ranch to win the 5A state championship in 2012. With time in regulation slipping away, the Rattlers scored to tie the match 2-2. Eventually, it went to a shootout and Sharyland fell behind 2-0 before the Rattlers came back to prevail 3-2 on a game-winning shootout goal by little-known sophomore Amaury Lozano. The next year, the UIL went to penalty kicks instead of a shootout to decide matches tied after overtime.
All of those championship games provide amazing memories. Then came Saturday, which was undoubtedly the most dominating performance by a Valley team in a UIL state final.
It just added to the legacy of high school soccer in Brownsville and the Valley.
“We are the capital of soccer, and we just put up another star for Brownsville,” Rivera principal Aimee Garza-Limon said as she celebrated Saturday’s 2-0 win.
Roy Hess covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @HessRgehess.