BY GREG LUCA | STAFF WRITER
After missing all of last season due to a knee injury, Valley View’s Rafael Garcia started 2015 with a bang, scoring five goals as the Tigers rolled to a 3-0 weekend at the Cypress Fairbanks Tournament in Houston.
Despite losing eight players to graduation, Valley View has picked up right where it left off, with Garcia appearing capable of filling the role left by last year’s All-Valley Defensive MVP, Erik Martinez.
“We’re looking at him as being our defender. He can play a lot of positions,” Valley View interim athletics director Julio Martinez said. “He’s our hybrid player. He’s a great leader. He’s a silent leader. He leads by example. He’s a defensive guy, but if you need to put him up there, he’ll go up there he’ll get the job done.”
Garcia suffered a knee injury that required surgery late in one of Valley View’s games at a summer tournament in McAllen before last season. Garcia’s rehab was just reaching its conclusion as Valley View was finishing up its playoff run to the state final, a 2-1 loss against Northwest Nelson.
The Tigers’ strong opening weekend is just the first step on the team’s mission to get back to those heights.
“It’s a learning environment, and we just have to keep our feet on the ground and focus on what we want to achieve, which is the state championship,” Martinez said. “It was so close last year. That’s our main goal as a team.”
SCORCHING START
With talented freshman Elizabeth Reyes meshing with returning District 63-4A Offensive MVP Betzaida Zuniga, scoring will rarely be an issue for the Donna North girls this season.
Zuniga scored 9 goals and Reyes added 8 as Donna North won all three of its games in the Port Lavaca Tournament, beating Rockport Fulton, St. Joseph Academy and Port Lavaca Calhoun by a combined 22-1. When Saturday’s matches were canceled due to inclement weather, Donna North was named the champion on points.
“We have a very good forward tandem, and I feel very comfortable that they’re going to score the necessary goals for us to be successful offensively,” Donna North coach Tony Garcia said.
After winning MVP as a freshman last season, Zuniga has returned with more passion, more energy and greater leadership in her captain’s role, Garcia said.
Reyes was on Garcia’s radar as an eighth grader, and she has already learned to play with the returning players through work with the high school team during the summer.
Although Reyes and Zuniga play different styles — Zuniga is a finesse player who will usually score from long range, while Reyes likes to dribble and attack from inside the box — they have fit together well to help Donna North to a strong opening weekend.
“Overall, it was very good play by the entire team to help us get ready for our district play,” Garcia said.
PROGRESO MAKES PROGRESS
Progreso coach Margarito Jimenez can see the growth Heriberto Gomez, his senior captain and 2014’s District 64-4A Offensive Player of the Year, has made from last year to this year.
“He’s grown as a player. He’s more mature,” Jimenez said. “He’s a smarter player when it comes to takings shots. Last year, he used to try to score all the way inside the box. This year, as soon as he sees an opening, he takes a shot. He’s more decisive.”
The change helped Gomez to a big opening weekend, as Progreso defeated Bandera 8-0 and Somerset 6-0 to win the title in a rain-shortened tournament in Pleasanton. Gomez scored four times. Eulises Salinas also scored four goals, with Rodrigo Blanco adding two.
With three senior starters leading a group of talented sophomores and juniors, Jimenez is excited for his team.
“I do think we have what it takes to go deep,” Jimenez said. “I have a very strong team, and we can make a lot of noise come playoff time.”
FRESHMAN STEPS UP
Behind five goals for freshman Jonathan Segundo and a defense that allowed just one goal in five games, Edinburg Economedes notched a fourth-place finish with a 5-0 record at the Mission Eagles Invitational, which was shortened a day by rain.
La Joya Juarez-Lincoln was named champion, with Brownsville Lopez taking second and Sharyland High finishing third.
Economedes coach Sam Gonzalez knew the freshman Segundo had the potential to score after watching him play in middle school, and Segundo confirmed that belief throughout the tournament. Gonzalez said Segundo has good moves with the ball and is always “hungry to score.”
“He was a big factor for our team,” Gonzalez said. “Being a freshman, he’s doing real well.”
Overall, Gonzalez said the defense was the biggest key. He has high expectations for the senior laden group, even as it nurses a few injuries.
“If everybody is healthy,” Gonzalez said, “they’re going to be good.”