By ROY HESS, Staff Writer
What were the chances of Brownsville bringing home back-to-back UIL state championships in soccer by teams with unbeaten records?
As it turns out, the odds were pretty good.
More than a week has passed, and understandably, the Porter Cowboys are still celebrating the Class 5A state title they captured April 16 in dramatic fashion by prevailing 10-9 in penalty kicks to defeat highly regarded and previously undefeated Frisco Wakeland 3-2 at Georgetown ISD’s Birkelbach Field.
Such a remarkable feat by the Cowboys (28-0-1) added another chapter to Brownsville’s legacy in the sport at the high school level.
For that reason, don’t expect the Cowboys to stop celebrating anytime soon.
“To win a state title feels awesome,” said Marco Don Juan, a junior midfielder for Porter. “It’s what I’ve wanted since the first day I stepped on the Porter campus as a freshman. We worked so hard and this is our reward.
“What I’m going to remember most is that our coaches were always behind us and they were stubborn in a good way by always pushing us for a good reason,” he added. “I’m just proud to be part of this team … this family … and I love my teammates.”
One year earlier, on the same field in Georgetown, the Rivera Raiders won the inaugural Class 6A state championship in boys soccer and finished with a 28-0 record. The Raiders defeated Katy Cinco Ranch 2-0 in the 6A title match.
Rivera finished as the No. 2 team nationally in the Topdrawersoccer.com high school winter rankings one year ago. Porter was No. 4 nationally in the same rankings last week.
To win state is an amazing feeling for everyone involved, as capturing back-to-back state crowns has brought added respect and pride to the Rio Grande Valley, especially to Brownsville.
Actually, the latest championship marks the Valley’s sixth overall title in UIL boys soccer, including four by Brownsville teams. Previously, Lopez claimed the Class 4A championship in 2004, Porter captured its first 5A title in 2006, Hidalgo won the 4A crown in 2009 and Sharyland High was the 5A title in 2012 to go with Rivera’s 6A title in 2015.
Also, finishing as the state runner-up for the Valley were Lopez (2009), Hanna (2013), Valley View (2014) and Progreso this season.
Porter also advanced to state in 1984 and 2011 before winning it all for the first time in 2006.
Such successful showings at state have created some pretty high expectations for Valley teams, particularly those in Brownsville. After seeing Brownsville produce back-to-back champions, every Valley school now considers getting to state and winning it all as a realistic goal.
“It just tells you something about the level of soccer athletes we have here,” Brownsville Veterans Memorial coach Alberto Vasquez said. “Their love for soccer is shown by how far they go (in the playoffs). That is what they love to do and it’s what they think about 24/7.
“Right now, I think all of the players (at our school) are already thinking about next year as well as the coaches. The thought process is ‘What do we need to do to get better to make sure we’re there next year?’ The mentality nowadays is ‘We’re going for a state title.’ It’s nothing else (short of that) because we know we can accomplish it. We see teams around us do it and we know we’re at their level or pretty close to it, so it’s something seen as attainable. That’s the pride (involved with Brownsville soccer).”
For the moment and foreseeable future, the accolades belong to Porter.
As state champions, it’s the Cowboys’ turn in the spotlight. They’ve just completed a demanding journey that started quite some time before the 2016 season began. It was a multi-season journey that mirrors the march to success completed by Rivera in 2015.
The Porter players and coaches thought they had the team to make it to state last season, but a 1-0 loss to eventual state tournament finalist Georgetown East View at the 2015 regional tournament in Corpus Christi ended the Cowboys’ campaign short of Georgetown.
One year ago, the Porter players had promised coach Jose Espitia they would win state and dedicate the championship to Maria Espitia, their coach’s mother who died April 13, 2014. When the Cowboys weren’t able to fulfill their promise last season, it was a disappointment that served to motivate them in 2016.
The late Maria Espitia was on the minds of the Porter coaches and players when they came through with a championship against Frisco Wakeland (25-1-1) on April 16.
“I made a promise to God before the (state final) game that as soon as we were declared champions, I was going to run to the center circle and kneel down to thank Him for His blessings,” Espitia said. “I dedicated our victory to God and to my mom in heaven.”
There were other factors surrounding Porter’s fourth appearance at state that made it such a remarkable experience.
Jose Nava, a sophomore and the Cowboys’ regular goalkeeper, fell ill just before Porter’s state semifinal game April 14 against El Paso Eastlake. The Porter coaches, deciding they wanted someone who was feeling 100 percent guarding the net, opted to go with freshman Mario Rios as the starter.
Rios did so well in Porter’s 4-1 semifinal win against Eastlake that the coaches decided to keep him as the starter for the final. Called upon to perform in a high-pressure situation, Rios made his only two starts of the season at the state tournament.
“Mario has a lot of goalkeeping experience and had trained all season long despite only playing a few minutes here and there,” Espitia said. “He had never started for us until the state semifinal. He waited patiently for an opportunity and God rewarded him at the end. He did a great job against El Paso, so we decided to keep him in there for the final. He was great under the goal.”
Espitia is assisted by coaches Adrian Navarro, Antonio Serrano and Eddie Buentello, whose primary responsibility is the goalkeepers.
“We had been telling our players that if they put in hard work, had discipline and if they believed, it would pay off and anything could happen,” Buentello said. “We (as coaches) just wanted to support them because they have such a great heart.”
In the final, goals during regulation by Alexis Armendariz, a junior forward, gave Porter leads of 1-0 and 2-1. But Wakeland came up with a goal that bounced off the left post and went in with only 1:09 to go in regulation that eventually sent the match to penalties tied at 2 after twenty minutes of scoreless overtime.
What happened next was a tense, heart-stopping shootout as the PKs went 10 rounds and involved a total of 20 players, 10 for each side.
Porter went first in the PKs and made all 10 of its attempts. When the 10th Wakeland player took his PK, the ball hit the right post and bounced away, giving the 10-9 sudden-death victory to Porter.
Making their PK attempts for Porter from first to last were Uriel Sepulveda, Don Juan, Enrique Soto, Armendariz, Harambe Garcia, Anthony Cuellar, Esteban Mata, Angel Silva, Luis Lara and Ricardo Vidal.
“We had the faith and confidence that we were going to win,” said Alexis Anzures, a senior attacking midfielder/forward. “We weren’t nervous at all. We just knew we were going to win. It was our time. It was our moment to be state champions.”
Added Soto, a senior midfielder and team captain along with Sepulveda, “God put this game in front of us so we could win it. It was all about faith. We never lost our faith. It’s something that will be in my heart forever.”
Espitia said he had a pre-determined list of 10 players who would take the PKs. He said two of the players on the list were cramping and were replaced by Lara and Vidal.
“I called roll (for the PKs) and their response was ‘listo,’ which means ready,” Espitia said. “Two of them didn’t answer their call (due to cramping), so I just looked for two reliable seniors who could take on that responsibility. They were Luis Lara and Ricky Vidal. I wasn’t going to pressure them if they weren’t physically or mentally ready. I’m just glad we were perfect from the penalty mark.”
Armendariz, who totaled 31 goals on the season for the District 32-5A champion Cowboys, was named the MVP of the 5A boys championship game. Other Porter players selected to the all-tournament team at state were Anzures, Don Juan and Rios.
Additional players who contributed considerable amounts of playing time for the Cowboys this season included brothers Daniel and Roberto Briseno, Omar Estrada, Jose Pardillo, Fernando Trigo, Josue Reyna, Caleb Castillo, Gerardo Perez and Agustin Pizano. Also, Jaime Gomez was Porter’s goalkeeper for defending PKs and he was called upon in the 5A final.
In all, the Cowboys won seven playoff matches en route to capturing the state title. The first five of those wins came against Edinburg Vela (2-0), Calallen (4-3 in PKs), Sharyland High (2-0), Alamo Heights (4-1) and Pace (2-1 in overtime).
Espitia said it’s a shining moment, not just for Porter, but for all of Brownsville soccer.
“Thanks to Rivera, our guys started believing (last year) that it could happen, and now we’ve won a second state championship at our school,” the Porter coach said. “Rivera did it, so we felt we could do it. Hopefully someone else believes they can do it next year, and maybe it can be us again.
“It’s very possible,” Espitia added. “Our athletes may not have the money or the resources, but they have big hearts and great faith. I’m very blessed to have the athletes that we have. This is something great and I think it’s a lifetime memory for all of us.”
Roy Hess covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @HessRgehess