By ROY HESS | THE BROWNSVILLE HERALD
SAN ANTONIO — Although the St. Joseph Academy Bloodhounds showed a lot of determination and improvement over the course of their 2017-18 soccer season, things came to an all-too-early end for them Saturday in the TAPPS Division I playoffs.
A 4-1 loss to Dallas Bishop Lynch in the TAPPS quarterfinals at San Antonio’s Cornerstone Christian Academy brought a finish to the Bloodhounds’ season of development. They were trying to reach the TAPPS semifinals like they did in 2015 and 2016.
But this year it was not to be. The Bloodhounds finished with an 8-14-1 record, while Bishop Lynch (18-2) advances to Tuesday’s TAPPS semifinals against either San Antonio Central Catholic or Houston Awty International.
SJA and Bishop Lynch were tied 1-1 at halftime Saturday, but the Bloodhounds just couldn’t hold off the Friars in the second half.
“It wasn’t the result we expected, but we’re content because we left it all on the field,” SJA coach Edgar Tovar said. “We’re ending the season with our heads held high. There are times when things just don’t come out your way. Today, they went in favor of our opponent.
“Circumstances like that hurt more for the losing team, but we had a season in which the players worked really hard and did well,” Tovar added. “With the players who are returning, and I think there are about eight of them, we’ll continue to work hard and get better.
“This was my first year coaching these boys and they gave me 100 percent. I thank them a lot for their efforts in helping us build the team. We’ll use this playoff experience and it will help us in the future.”
The Bloodhounds fell behind 1-0 barely four minutes into the match when they were called for a tripping foul in the penalty area and the Friars’ Johnny Bruce converted the ensuing PK.
With eight and a half minutes left until intermission, SJA evened the score 1-1. The scoring play began with a long free kick for SJA that bounced around just outside the goal before it came to the Bloodhounds’ Luis de la Garza. He sent the ball into the left corner of the net from about 12 yards out.
The Friars came alive with three goals in the second half to seal the victory.
First, the Bloodhounds failed to clear the ball properly on defense during the 43rd minute and it came right to the Friars’ Ryan Sheaffer, who promptly drilled a shot into the goal from 10 yards away to make it 2-1.
Teammate Jack Adams scored from close range in the 67th minute on a corner-kick play and scored again in the 69th minute by dribbling in, catching the goalkeeper out of position and firing a shot into an open net to account for the final score of 4-1.
The Bloodhounds reached the TAPPS quarterfinals thanks to last Tuesday’s 4-2 playoff victory against Beaumont Kelly.