By ROY HESS | THE BROWNSVILLE HERALD
Any coach who has ever taken a team to the state playoffs in any sport knows just how fickle coin flips can be.
Of the 13 Metro-area teams in this year’s UIL soccer playoffs (seven boys squads and six girls), only three of them are playing at home in this week’s bi-district matches after coin-flip results didn’t go their way in determining sites for the games.
Some of the neutral locations for bi-district games were reached by mutual arrangement, but for a majority of Metro-area teams, there just was no luck of the flip, which means winning on the road now becomes a priority.
The three area teams playing their bi-district matches at home today are the Los Fresnos boys, the Rivera girls and the Port Isabel girls.
The District 32-6A third-place Los Fresnos boys will be at Leo Aguilar Memorial Stadium as the home team against District 31-6A runner-up Edinburg Economedes at 7 p.m., while the 32-6A fourth-place Rivera girls will be at Sams Memorial Stadium for their 7 p.m. home match against 31-6A champion Edinburg North.
Also, at 6 p.m. today, the District 31-4A third-place Port Isabel girls play at home against District 32-4A runner-up Edinburg IDEA Quest.
All of the winners this week move on to next week’s area round of the playoffs.
The Rivera girls enjoyed their best postseason in soccer in school history a year ago by advancing three rounds. Lady Raiders coach Peter A. Rodriguez knows his team won’t catch opponents by surprise this time around and believes it’s certainly possible for his girls to equal or surpass their showing of 2017.
“Every playoff team goes out wanting and having faith that it will exceed expectations,” Rodriguez said. “It’s our job (on our team) to show effort and prove it. The Lady Raiders knew from the beginning the challenge this season would bring. The girls set goals at the beginning of the season to be a better team than last year, and we have accomplished that on paper in the regular season.
“Our next goal is to ensure we do what we need to do on and off the field to become a better playoff team by keeping in mind our goals set at the beginning of the season,” Rodriguez added. “Many (of our) players have had their share of injuries, and the players who showed up to play stepped up for those who were injured. Every player has done her job to put us where we are.
“None of our players want to be just a first-round playoff team. They are excited and motivated. Our destiny is in our hands now.”
Los Fresnos coach Javier Navarrete said Economedes is a pretty solid team with strong midfielders and speedy forwards. The Falcons defeated the Jaguars 3-1 in overtime in Edinburg during last year’s bi-district playoffs, so the two teams’ contest tonight shapes up as a rematch.
“If we execute our game plan and minimize our mistakes, I like our chances,” Navarrete said. “It’s going to take a team effort — no doubt. We are excited about our chances and we believe in our preparation. We have some key players on our team that are going to have to show their experience and lead us on the field.
“The key is we have faith,” Navarrete added. “The boys have responded well all season and we’re looking forward to the challenge (of being back in the playoffs).”
Other Metro-area teams playing bi-district matches this week are the boys teams from Hanna, Rivera, Porter, Lopez, Brownsville Veterans Memorial and Port Isabel. Besides Rivera and Port Isabel, other Metro-area girls teams in the postseason are Los Fresnos, Brownsville Veterans, Porter and Pace.
REACHING A MILESTONE
The District 32-5A champion Pace Lady Vikings have a team full of standout performers who have contributed to this season’s stellar showing by winning their first conference crown since 2009.
One of the team’s most talented players is center midfielder Alma Perez, a senior who recorded her 100th career assist for Pace during a 3-1 victory against Porter on Feb. 27.
The Pace girls went through 32-5A competition with a 14-0 record and now take a 26-1-1 overall mark into their bi-district match at 6 p.m. today against District 31-5A fourth-place Laredo Martin at Corpus Christi’s Cabaniss Field. The 32-5A champion Lopez boys take on the 31-5A fourth-place Martin boys on the same field at 8 p.m. today.
BACK IN PLAYOFFS
First-year Harlingen High boys head coach Johnny Guillen has the Cardinals back in the soccer playoffs for the first time in 10 years.
The 32-6A fourth-place Cardinals play host to 31-6A first-place PSJA Southwest at 6 p.m. today at Boggus Stadium.
Guillen played four years for the Cardinals and was a first-team all-district selection all four seasons before graduating in 2006. He is also the Cardinals’ all-time leading scorer with 88 goals. Before Guillen set the Cardinals’ career scoring record, it belonged to Miguel “Mike” Garcia (75 goals), who is now an assistant soccer coach at Los Fresnos.
Veteran soccer/football coach Bobby Lucio coached both Guillen and Garcia.
When Guillen was named as the Cardinals’ new coach prior to this school year, he requested to have his former coach, Lucio, as his assistant. The result this season is a return to the postseason.
“I was fortunate to have coached both of them,” Lucio said. “It’s great to be back coaching soccer. I’m glad Johnny insisted on having me as his assistant.”
EARLY START
While the UIL website says the state soccer playoffs officially begin today (March 29), according to a La Joya CISD athletic official, some teams were granted permission to play their bi-district games a day earlier, presumably because this is the week leading up to Easter.
Three Valley teams played their bi-district matches on Wednesday night. They were the boys teams from La Joya Juarez-Lincoln and McAllen Memorial and the girls team from McAllen Memorial.
Roy Hess covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @HessRgehess