By ROY HESS, Staff Writer
There haven’t been all that many shining moments for the Pace Vikings in soccer during the past few seasons, but they definitely had one Saturday at Valley View by upsetting the Tigers 2-0.
A pair of second-half goals by Juan Garza and Osvaldo “Wally” Canales lifted the District 32-5A third-place Vikings over the District 31-5A runner-up Tigers, the Rio Grande Valley’s No. 1 team of one season ago that advanced to the UIL state tournament in 2013 and 2014.
“I want to bring Pace back to where it used to be,” said first-year Vikings coach Mario A. Zamora, whose team is in the playoffs for the first time since 2010. “They had some great years (in the mid-2000s, winning 32-5A four straight seasons), and now we’re working hard to put Pace in the newspapers and on TV like before.
““I told our players that you start from zero in the playoffs, and here it is (an upset and we’re advancing),” Zamora added. “We won, and I’m more than happy.”
Added Canales, a senior forward who scored Pace’s second goal against Valley View on a header, “We’re getting our school to be recognized again (in soccer). We’re thankful for all the support we’re receiving. It’s just a beautiful experience.”
The Vikings next play Corpus Christi Moody in the area round of the Class 5A playoffs at 6 p.m. Thursday at Calallen.
REPRESENTING
Even with the state playoffs just starting, it’s already become another pretty remarkable soccer season in Brownsville.
Of the city’s six primary high schools, each of them has at least one team still alive in the postseason and playing in the area round Thursday.
Those teams include the Hanna boys and girls, the Brownsville Veterans Memorial boys, the Rivera boys, the Pace boys, the Porter boys and the Lopez girls.
Another noteworthy item serving as a badge of pride for Brownsville ISD is that the head coaches for each of those teams are all graduates of BISD high schools.
“I think there is no doubt that (former longtime Hanna boys coach) Juan de Dios Garcia has a lot to do with that,” said Rivera coach Salvador Garcia, an ex-player for Juan de Dios who like others that played the game went into coaching as well. “He was a great coach, mentor and competitor. I truly believe that.
“The fact that we have great talent on our teams with excellent players makes coaching so much easier,” the Rivera coach added.
BREAKOUT GAME
Natalie Garcia, Hanna’s standout junior midfielder/forward, has had her share of breakout games for the Lady Golden Eagles since she was a freshman.
The performance she enjoyed Thursday against Edinburg Economedes during a 6-2 bi-district victory at Weslaco East provided yet another night to remember. Garcia netted four goals and Julissa Urbina added two for the Hanna girls, who led 2-1 at halftime.
“I would say so,” said Hanna coach Jose Morales about if it was one of Garcia’s best games of the season. “We’ve been expecting something like that from her.”
The Lady Eagles next play at McAllen Memorial’s Boxer Hernandez Stadium against the Lady Mustangs at 7 p.m. Thursday in the area round of the Class 6A playoffs.
DISTRICT SWEEPS
The District 32-6A girls, with four teams ranked in the Valley’s Top 10, displayed their might in bi-district last week by sweeping their District 31-6A counterparts. No. 1 Los Fresnos blanked PSJA Memorial 5-0, No. 3 Hanna downed Economedes 6-2, No. 4 Harlingen South shut out Edinburg High 8-0 and No. 8 Lopez prevailed over No. 9 Edinburg North 1-0 in penalty kicks (5-4).
Also recording a bi-district sweep were the boys from District 32-5A against District 31-5A. No. 2 Porter shut out Sharyland Pioneer 3-0, Donna High surprised No. 4 Sharyland High 3-2 in penalties (4-3), Pace upset No. 5 Valley View 2-0 and PSJA Southwest topped Edinburg Vela 4-2.
Roy Hess covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @HessRgehess.