By ROY HESS, Staff Writer
The closely contested District 32-5A boys soccer match Tuesday between Brownsville Veterans Memorial and Porter provided a worthy preview of the intense, all-out playoff competition that is ahead, but still more than a month away. It’s not even the second round of district yet.
The postseason is scheduled to begin March 23 for Class 6A, 5A and 4A teams.
In the meantime, there are pretty engaging district showdowns between Brownsville teams such as Tuesday’s matchup. It was a game in which both squads played at a high level.
Over the years, that’s the kind of soccer Brownsville aficionados have come to expect and what makes Brownsville soccer at the high school level so special.
The fans weren’t disappointed Tuesday, except maybe at the end for the home-crowd Chargers fans. District 32-5A frontrunners Brownsville Veterans and Porter squared off with the Cowboys eventually winning 3-2 to create a tie for first place as both teams are now 4-1 with 12 points apiece. On Tuesday, Porter trailed 1-0 and 2-1 before scoring twice in the final 18 minutes to win.
Both coaches said they were pleased with the effort displayed by their players.
“We’ve gone against three tough Brownsville teams in our district, we beat two of them and we almost beat the third one,” Chargers coach Alberto Vasquez said. “I feel pretty good about our team. We’ll learn from this (loss to Porter). I’m proud of my guys.”
Bouncing back after last Friday’s surprising 2-0 road loss to Donna High, the Cowboys were once again feeling positive about themselves following Tuesday’s win.
“The way we were playing (before Tuesday), we knew only a loss like that (one in Donna) was going to bring us up again,” Porter coach Jose Espitia said. “Our players were excited to get this victory because Veterans was in first place. They knew we had to beat them to have a chance at the district championship or be at the top of the standings (again).
“We knew it was going to be a good test for us,” he added. “The guys were focused and mentally ready. They were prepared for a battle because every time a Brownsville team goes against another Brownsville team, it’s going to be tough, especially against a team like Veterans.
“There was a championship game atmosphere to this one. Hopefully we can start building some momentum from here.”
The Cowboys have been playing all their first-round district games on the road, as has the Porter girls team, as they waited for their on-campus artificial turf field to be completed. The new field is finished and the Porter boys and girls were expecting to start practicing on it this week.
Besides the Chargers and Cowboys tied at the top of the 32-5A standings at 4-1 with 12 points each, other top teams in the 32-5A boys title hunt are Lopez and Pace (both 3-2 with nine points each) plus Donna High (2-3, seven points) and Donna North (2-3, six points).
Lopez is the lone leader among the 32-5A girls at 5-0 with 14 points. The next closest teams are Pace, Edcouch-Elsa and Donna High, all with two losses.
CURRENT SITUATION IN DISTRICT 32-6A
The Rivera Raiders assumed sole control of the District 32-6A boys lead at 4-0 with 12 points after Tuesday’s 2-0 victory against Weslaco High.
Hanna edged Los Fresnos 1-0 on penalty kicks, also Tuesday, leaving the Falcons at 3-1 with 10 points. Hanna is 3-1 with eight points.
Looking ahead, the Falcons and Raiders square off at 7 p.m. Tuesday in Los Fresnos.
Meanwhile, Los Fresnos appears to be unstoppable in the 32-6A girls race with a 4-0 record and 12 points. The Lady Falcons have outscored their first four district opponents 24-3. Harlingen South and Harlingen High (both 3-1 with nine points apiece) are tied for second place.
TAPPS DISTRICT GAME
The St. Joseph Academy Bloodhounds continue their TAPPS district schedule by playing host to San Antonio Antonian at 2 p.m. Saturday at Canales Field.
The Bloodhounds are 15-6-2 overall. They’re 0-2 in their TAPPS district, but remain in the hunt for the playoffs. A win Saturday would greatly help their cause.
Roy Hess covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @HessRgehess