NATHANIEL MATA | THE MONITOR
PHARR — Two RGV powerhouse from different classifications met in Pharr, but only the Class 5A Valley View Tigers showcased elite soccer Tuesday night, winning 5-0 over the Class 4A Progreso Red Ants.
State tournament aspirations are strong for both teams, but those visions are far down the road.
The preliminary period of “feeling out” the other team didn’t last long for Valley View. The Tigers’ philosophy to attack from the start of the match was evident. The home squad spent a majority of the game with possession, typically looking for the orange boots of striker Mario De Los Santos.
De Los Santos, who was on The Monitor’s 2017 All-Area First Team, showed off his prowess as a scorer with four goals in the game. For De Los Santos, a performance like that is not uncommon.
“Last year, during our season, I had a game where I scored seven goals in a game with my hard work and dedication,” De Los Santos said through a translator. “That’s my goal for this season, as well.”
Valley View’s Christopher Flores nearly started the scoring just seven minutes into the match, but his shot was denied by Progreso goalkeeper Darren De Leon.
De Los Santos broke through before the 10-minute mark with a strong shot from the outside.
Barely a minute later, it was deja vu for De Los Santos, who wired another shot from just outside of the box over the keeper to extend the Tigers’ lead with 30:48 to play.
“Strikers need to have a lot of mobility, especially up top trying to move around the defense,” De Los Santos said. “That’s what I’m trying to do — trying to be a surprise for the defense. It was hard work from the team, and the practices we’ve been doing reflects in the game.”
The Tigers often looked to Adrian Gonzalez wide on the left side of the field on the break, and he usually had lots of room to move the ball deep into the final third.
Valley View gave Progreso defenders fits when they tried to clear the ball out of their zone. Many times, the Tigers got in the way of a clearing effort to keep the pressure up.
When the Red Ants did get possession and moved upfield, they rarely looked dangerous. The team is looking to gain traction in 2018 but has lost five straight after being swept in a Houston-area tournament over the weekend.
Directly following the halftime break, De Los Santos completed his hat trick, beating the keeper clean.
Progreso’s Fabrizzio Gonzalez took a shot with 25:13 to play, but Tigers goalie Elian Chavez had no trouble keeping it out and close to the chest.
Omar Anguiano had the Red Ants’ best opportunity prior to Gonzalez’s try, but he was unable to finish after a give-and-go, pushing the shot just wide with a half-hour to play.
As the game went on, Progreso was more inclined to send the ball deep in hopes of hitting the home-run pass to get on the board. But Valley View’s defenders were sound in the back, not allowing the Red Ants to connect on those long balls.
“Our type of game is to keep possession of the ball, try to play up from the back. That way the lines can move up forward,” coach Damian Magallan said through an interpreter. “We had a little bit of height on the throw-ins and kicks, and that was a difference in the game.”
With seven minutes to play, De Los Santos almost put his total at an even four goals, but his shot following a dangerous counterattack was denied by the post. Just one play later, he found his mark, catching the goalie off his line and scoring his fourth of the match.
“We knew that they were going to come and run a lot. They have a lot of physical strength,” Magallan said through an interpreter. “But on our side, we have a striker who was a complete finisher tonight. We thought it was going to be a more 50-50 game, but our striker was the difference.”
De Los Santos was happy for the early season onslaught of scoring but admitted that a strong team season is more important than just another 69-goal campaign for himself.
“Last year, I had a great season, but we didn’t complete our goal, which was to aim for state,” De Los Santos said. “This year, I would prefer to win state than any individual recognition.”