By ROY HESS, Staff Writer
GEORGETOWN— Even though Lorenzo Garza remained in Brownsville on Friday, his heart was with the Rivera Raiders as they were scheduled to play at the UIL state soccer tournament in Georgetown, weather permitting.
Garza coached the Rivera boys soccer team for nine years before current coach Salvador Garcia, his former assistant, took over in 1998.
The ex-Raiders coach said he is cheering for Rivera from afar.
“Unfortunately, I have a family event to attend this weekend and I can’t be in Georgetown,” said Garza, who was on hand to see the Raiders win the Region IV-6A Tournament last weekend at Brownsville Sports Park. “Yes, I’m very excited to see them at state. I think all of Brownsville is excited for them.”
Garza taught for 17 years at Rivera before moving over to Hanna, where he’s been teaching for 10 years.
He said he agrees with the slogan, “Once a Raider, always a Raider.”
“Definitely at times like this,” he said. “I’m a soccer fan above all else, and I love and support all the Brownsville soccer teams. They play at such a high level.
“Rivera has a great team,” he added. “It’s balanced with strong players on defense, in the midfield and at forward. I wish the best of luck to Salvador, (my former player) Coach Andres Macias, the other coaches and the team.
“We’ll be waiting and hoping to celebrate with them when they get back.”
FORMER EAGLES PLAYER AT STATE
Former Hanna cross country coach Jaime Vasquez is an assistant coach on the Arlington Sam Houston boys soccer team that is representing Region I-6A at state this weekend.
He has been the cross country coach at Sam Houston for three years, and this is his first year with the Texans soccer team, where he mainly helps with conditioning.
“It feels awesome to be here at state,” said Vasquez, who led the Golden Eagles to a string of district championships in cross country. “Several of these Sam Houston athletes ran cross country for me in the fall and we won varsity and junior varsity district championships. Now to see them come all the way up here in soccer as district champions, regional champions and hopefully state champions, it’s pretty exciting. It’s been a beautiful ride.
“I’m very proud of these kids,” he added. “They believe in hard work and working together as a team. It’s a family atmosphere, which I really like.”
EX-BRONCS PLAYER AT STATE
Katy Cinco Ranch girls coach Fredy Sanguinetti is a familiar name to Rio Grande Valley soccer fans.
He played goalkeeper for the University of Texas-Pan American Broncs before graduating in 1991. He then served as co-head boys soccer coach along with the late Sammy Zavala at Edinburg High during the 1992 and 1993 seasons before leaving to go play professional soccer in Houston.
This weekend marked Sanguinetti’s third time at state. He coached the Katy Morton Ranch boys to state in 2007 and guided the Cinco Ranch girls to state in 2014. In their return trip to Georgetown this year, the Cinco Ranch girls suffered a 1-0 loss in penalties (4-3) Friday against Dallas Highland Park in the 6A state semifinals.
“The road is so hard to get here, you try to cherish it,” Sanguinetti said. “It’s so hard because everything has to line up just right. I know our girls (eventually) will cherish this experience. Right now, they’re a little down. It just wasn’t in the cards for us today.”
The Cinco Ranch boys also are playing at state, and Sanguinetti’s son, Trey, is a senior forward on the squad, which was scheduled to play Arlington Sam Houston in the 6A semifinals later Friday, weather permitting.
RETURN APPEARANCE
The Region IV-6A champion San Antonio Reagan girls lost 1-0 to Coppell on a goal during the final minute of regulation in Friday’s 6A state semifinals in Georgetown. Reagan lost 3-0 in the semifinals last year at state.
Reagan had rallied from a 1-0 second-half deficit to defeat Los Fresnos 2-1 in last weekend’s Region IV-6A Tournament final at Brownsville Sports Park.
It was the eighth time to take a team to state for veteran Reagan girls soccer coach Frankie Whitlock, who is approaching 600 career victories. She has taken Reagan teams to state five times after guiding teams from San Antonio Churchill to state three times, the first trip coming in 1997.