By ROY HESS, Staff Writer
As Hanna’s first-year coach, Jose Morales is one of several new faces on the Lady Golden Eagles soccer team this season.
Newcomers aside, perhaps even more significant for Morales and everyone else on the squad is the fact that there are quite a few familiar faces returning from last year’s playoff team. And for that reason, Morales sees himself as being in a pretty enviable position.
“There have been opportunities before for me to move up (from Perkins Middle School ), and this was a solid one,” Morales said. “My wife’s (employed) at Hanna, too, so that’s icing on the cake.”
Morales, a 1992 Rivera graduate with 17 years of experience teaching and coaching in Brownsville ISD, takes over as coach for CarminaDel Angel, who guided the team for two seasons. With a newborn baby daughter, Del Angel understandably opted to relinquish her Hanna coaching duties to devote more time to her family.
As a result, Morales, a former assistant for the boys and girls soccer teams at Rivera, inherits a talented Lady Eagles squad with a solid nucleus of veteran players, including eight returning starters who have spent a good bit of time on the field together during previous seasons.
“This is a special group (to coach),” Morales said. “I’ve coached girls on co-ed (club) teams as a volunteer and at the (high) schools, and (I knew) this was a team that is a solid group. There’s a lot of talent and skillful players. Once we start jelling, I think we’re really going to be coming together and coming through (in District 32-6A). Our expectations are high.”
Like other Rio Grande Valley high school teams, the Lady Eagles are getting their 2015 season under way at this week’s 27-team Brownsville ISD Tournament at Brownsville Sports Park . There was pool play in four groups Thursday and Friday with the championship set for 2 p.m. Saturday.
There’s also a three-day, 32-team BISD Tournament for boys going on, making it quite a weekend of soccer at BSP.
On Thursday, the Hanna girls posted wins over Progreso (5-0), PSJA Memorial (3-0) and Laredo United South (1-0) before prevailing over Mission High (2-1, penalty kicks) on Friday morning. Later in the day, they completed pool play against Los Fresnosand PSJA High.
“I feel like we’re going to have a good season,” said Maddy Brama. areturning starter on defense for the Lady Eagles. “We have a great group of girls, and I feel that we can go far (in the playoffs). We’re super close to each other and we treat each other like sisters, and that’s what you need (to be successful) on a team.”
Besides Brama, other returning starters for Hanna who received all-district honors last season are goalkeeper Amanda Alaniz, defender Priscilla Villarreal, forward Natalie Garcia and midfielders Julissa Urbina, Frida Palomo and Adrienne Davis.
“We have a very strong team, and that’s all I can say,” Villarreal said. “Everyone is playing hard. It’s a benefit for us that we’ve been playing together for a while.”
Added Garcia, “I feel that we’re a very strong team and we have a lot to bring to the field. We may have some troubles at times, but we always end up coming out strong at the end. That’s what I love about my team.”
Along with Hanna’s veteran players. thereare some newcomers to the varsity who could become key contributors. They include midfielder/forward Ann Schmitz, an exchange student, and forward Karen Lozano.
“We have a lot of potential,” Alaniz said. “We just have to continue to work hard every day. Right now we’re in the stage of getting everything together and becoming a team. I think we’re looking pretty good. We have the best midfield that we could have, and we’re really strong with our defense. Right now, we’re struggling with a few injuries, but that’s not going to hold us back.”
Everyone is expecting a productive season. The goal will be to make the playoffs and advance a ways like 2013, when the Lady Eagles reached the third round.
“I think our biggest asset on this team is our versatility,” Davissaid. “There are a lot of players on this team that are very versatile (regarding what position they can play), and that works to our strengths, so I think that will be a big help to us in our district run.
“We started off together as freshmen on this team, and it was all new to us,” Davis added. “Now that we’re juniors and seniors, I think this will be our year. That may sound a little pretentious, but I believe we’re going to have a really good year.”
Added Brama, “I’m just real excited to see what the season has in store for us.”
Roy Hess covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @HessRgehess.