HENRY MILLER | SPECIAL TO THE MONITOR
Donna North’s Elizabeth Reyes sees a lot of her younger self in Gaby Aviles. Many opponents can testify — they’ve seen way too much of both of the Chiefs this season.
The experienced senior Reyes and the feisty freshman Aviles will hope to continue their postseason surge as they lead Donna North into the Class 5A Region IV quarterfinals against Gregory-Portland at 7 p.m. tonight at Cabannis Field in Corpus Christi.
Reyes and Aviles have combined for 71 goals this year — 40 for Reyes and 31 for Aviles. Reyes, a forward, has 140 career goals, and she can envision her freshman teammate putting together numbers like that, and more.
“She’s amazing,” Reyes said. “I see a lot of her in me, and I tell her all the time when something happens that I have been in those shoes. We play well together.”
Coach Tony Garcia has been with the program for all five years of its existence and says that this year’s team is “a well-oiled machine and the most offensive balanced team we have.”
Reyes and Avila have multiple hat tricks this season — Reyes even scored six times in one game. Rarely will two players on a team score three goals in a game, but the Chiefs boast three. Nancy Espino scored three straight in a district matchup against Edcouch-Elsa and has 14 goals on the season.
“We can say it’s night and day from the very beginning of the season,” Garcia said. “We’ve made major strides, and their cohesiveness is nothing other than amazing.”
The Chiefs, who are in the third round of the playoffs for the second time in their five-year existence, put together an 11-3 record in District 32-5A this year, losing to Brownsville Porter once and to district champs Brownsville Pace twice. Midway through the first half of district play, Garcia noticed something a little special about his team.
“They turned into a well-oiled machine,” he said. “I had to take a step back, and when I did, I knew this was going to be a good little group.”
Donna North finished in sixth place in the district last year. Everyone knew Reyes was coming back. What probably nobody figured on was the impact Aviles, Espino and freshman goalkeepers Damaris Regalado and Michelle Garcia would have to revamp the Chiefs. Everybody knows now.
Regalado has been taking most of the time in net lately, but the two keepers alternated for most of the season. Regalado also recently won the district high jump title.
“She’s very secure on top, with a long reach and her height and her jumping ability,” Garcia said. “It’s hard for that ball to find its way into the net up on top with her there.”
Friday’s winner will play the winner of the game between Boerne Champion and San Marcos.
Aviles tweaked her ankle about two weeks ago and said she’s still not 100 percent healed. But she’s more resilient and much stronger than an average 15-year-old. She can control the ball and keep a defender away extremely efficiently.
“She’s had to battle with 18- and 19-year-old seniors, and not once has she backed away or not taken on that challenge,” Garcia said. “I knew she had the talent and the skills, but I never imagined it would be this type of talent and this type of focus and concentration. It’s always an all-out effort. Every practice, every minute, she’s a little Tasmanian devil out there.”