By ROY HESS, Staff Writer
SAN BENITO — The Port Isabel Lady Tarpons are building a foundation for the future as they begin their second season of UIL girls soccer.
The team had a solid start one year ago by going 7-5 in District 64-4A and advancing to the playoffs.
With one season of experience behind them, the Lady Tarpons are determined to surpass their achievements of 2014.
The Port Isabel girls now play in District 32-4A with La Feria, Lyford, Rio Hondo, Progreso and IDEA Frontier of Brownsville. They’re getting ready for the start of 32-4A competition early next month by playing in this weekend’s annual Dog Pound Girls Soccer Tournament in San Benito.
The tournament opened Friday with 16 teams divided into four groups for pool play. There will be semifinal and final matches played today in four divisions on the high school campus. The overall championship is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. today at Bobby Morrow Stadium.
When asked for his evaluation of last year’s inaugural season, Lady Tarpons coach Jesus Cardenas said, “I would say it was good overall. We gained experience because 95 percent of our girls had never played soccer before, so for the first year, I think we did a pretty good job of representing Port Isabel.
“Now in our second season, we’re expecting to do better than we did in our first season,” he added. “Hopefully we’ll have a chance to fight for the district title, and if possible, win it. I think all the (32-4A) teams this year are on the same level. (Defending district champion) La Feria kind of stands out as the team to beat.”
Among the girls back on the team this year are Stephany Bessischy, Felicia Calo, Ana Martinez, Alexis Pinkerton, Diana Quintanilla, Andrea Sanchez, Diana Suarez, Susana Villa, Hanna Waddell and Kimberly Wilson.
Of that group, eight are returning starters. Calo, Pinkerton and Wilson are team captains.
“We have a lot of girls who are more experienced this season and they know how to play their positions better this year compared to last year,” said Pinkerton, a senior forward. “It gives us an advantage this year, and we have some new girls who heard about the team and wanted to come out and try it. They’re actually pretty good, so we have a pretty good team.
“We want to go farther in the playoffs than just the first round,” Pinkerton added. “We’re all really excited to see what’s going to happen, and we’re just going to go out there and give it our best. That’s all we can do.”
Added Calo, a junior defender, “I do think the team has improved a lot. We’ve learned from our mistakes of last year. We’ve gained players and lost players, but I think we’re doing a lot better because we’re more experienced. We’re starting to talk to each other more (on the field), and we’re working as a team better and not playing like individuals, which is the way soccer should be played.”
Along with Pinkerton, another goal scorer for the Lady Tarpons is forward Jennifer Martinez, a freshman who tallied her team’s first goal of the tournament Friday during a 2-1 loss in pool play to Mission Veterans.
“Our girls are working hard and they’re disciplined as far as coming to practice and things like that,” Cardenas said. “I think our speed and effort is there. We just need to clean things up and get better. We’re making too many mental mistakes. Most of it is a lack of experience and not knowing where we need to be and not knowing what we need to do in certain situations. But I think we can get things cleaned up in our next few games and we should be OK for district.
“Hopefully we have a better second year than the first,” he added. “That way the program can keep on going and getting better.”
Added Wilson, a senior center midfielder, “I think we’re building a tradition. There was no one else before us (playing girls soccer at Port Isabel), and I think it’s a great thing we have. We’re getting better and we want to accomplish bigger things for this year’s group and for the ones who play in the future.”
Roy Hess covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @HessRgehess
San Benito Girls Dog Pound Soccer Tournament
Friday’s games
Pool play
Pool A (Bobby Morrow Stadium)
San Benito 1, Rio Grande City 0
Mission Veterans 2, Port Isabel 1
Mission Veterans 1, San Benito 0 (PKs)
Port Isabel 2, RGC 1 (PKs)
Mission Veterans 1, RGC 0
San Benito 3, Port Isabel 0
Final pool standings — 1. Mission Veterans, 2. San Benito, 3. Port Isabel, 4. RGC
Pool B (high school practice field)
Weslaco High 1, La Joya High 0
Roma 1, Progreso 0
Roma 1, La Joya High 0
Weslaco High 1, Progreso 0
Weslaco High 1, Roma 0
La Joya High 1, Progreso 0
Final pool standings — 1. Weslaco High, 2. Roma, 3. La Joya High, 4. Progreso
Pool C (high school practice field)
PSJA Memorial 3, La Joya Juarez-Lincoln 2 (PKs)
PSJA Southwest 2, Valley View 0
PSJA Southwest 1, PSJA Memorial 0
Juarez-Lincoln 2, Valley View 0
PSJA Southwest 2, Juarez-Lincoln 0
PSJA Memorial 1, Valley View 0
Final pool standings — 1. PSJA Southwest, 2. PSJA Memorial, 3. Juarez-Lincoln, 4. Valley View
Pool D (old Greyhound Stadium)
La Joya Palmview 2, Weslaco East 0
Sharyland Pioneer 1, Edinburg Vela 0 (PKs)
Pioneer 3, Weslaco East 0
Palmview 1, Vela 0
Pioneer 1, Palmview 0
Vela 2, Weslaco East 0
Final pool standings — 1. Pioneer, 2. Palmview, 3. Vela, 4. Weslaco East
Saturday’s games
Consolation semifinals
(at San Benito HS)
San Benito vs. Roma, 9 a.m.
PSJA Memorial vs. Palmview, 9 a.m.
Port Isabel vs. La Joya High, 10 a.m.
Juarez-Lincoln vs. Vela, 10 a.m.
RGC vs. Progreso, 11 a.m.
Valley View vs. Weslaco East, 11 a.m.
Consolation championships
San Benito-Roma winner vs. PSJA Memorial-Palmview winner, noon
Port Isabel-La Joya High winner vs. Juarez-Lincoln-Vela winner, noon
RGC-Progreso winner vs. Valley View-Weslaco East winner, noon
Championship semifinals
(Bobby Morrow Stadium)
Mission Veterans (Pool A winner) vs. Weslaco High (Pool B winner), 1:30 p.m.
PSJA Southwest (Pool C winner) vs. Sharyland Pioneer (Pool D winner), 3 p.m.
Championship
(Bobby Morrow Stadium)
Mission Veterans-Weslaco High winner vs. PSJA Southwest-Sharyland Pioneer winner, 5:30 p.m.