Taylor Campbell scored a whopping 52 goals in district and 61 overall last year.
It’s more than some teams scored for their entire season.
Campbell and her 177 career goals (second all-time in RGV history) are gone now and the SaberCats will need to figure out how to fill those shooting shoes. Returning five players with eight goals or more, including juniors Crystal Palma (17), Natalia Cortez (15) and Alayna Rodriguez (10), isn’t a bad start.
“We’re Vela. That’s who we are and how we play,” 10th-year head coach Americo Cortez said. “We have a good group of returning girls who are juniors and they’ll shoot the ball. We are going to attack.”
The question during the preseason, however, for the two-time defending District 31-6A champion is who will actually be doing the attacking. Hit hard with injuries and COVID-19, Cortez said he’s only had a couple of opportunities to see his team play at full strength.
What he saw there, though, was encouraging.
“We played as a team and played together,” he said. “But so far there has always been at least one player missing. We’ve faced a lot of good teams and we’ve played them well so that’s a good thing.”
Vela lost to perennial power McAllen High 2-1, tied Harlingen High 0-0 and Donna North 2-2 during the preseason. The SaberCats were scheduled to play PSJA North on Tuesday in Pharr, but that game was rescheduled to 6 p.m. today at PSJA North.
Two of Vela’s biggest threats this year will more than likely be La Joya Juarez-Lincoln and Edinburg High, at least if history and the preseason mean anything.
The Huskies started last season under new head coach Arnoldo Cardenas, but as the season progressed Juarez-Lincoln started looking more and more like the teams that made them such a threat in every game. They snuck into the playoffs with a mad rush at the end of the season and clinched the fourth spot in the playoffs.
This year, there is no slow start. Most recently, the Huskies won the Brownsville Invitational Tournament, winning all six matches and outscoring their opponents 18-1 with shutouts over Brownsville Hanna, Brownsville Pace, Weslaco High, La Feria and Brownsville Veterans 5-0 in the semifinals. They defeated Hanna 2-1 for a second time in the championship.
“You know they’re gonna be good, it just took them some time to get together last year,” Edinburg High 10th-year head coach Cerjio Elizarraz said. “They made a late run toward the end and started to peak. That’s carried over. They showed what they can do when they have their best.”
Juarez-Lincoln’s Keyla Torres scored all three of her team’s goals en route to a 3-2 victory over the Bobcats.
La Joya High defeated Mission High 1-0 in the only other District 31-6A match. Senior Michelle Garcia scored during the 22nd minute of the first half for La Joya. Edinburg Economedes at Edinburg North was also rescheduled. That game may take place Thursday, according to Edinburg North first-year head coach Marianna Watson.
Edinburg High will field a young team this season, leaning on the experience of just five returning players that had major playing time a year ago when the Bobcats took second in the district.
“We have a lot of young players,” Elizarraz said. “In soccer, it’s a double-edge sword. If you don’t let them score, you can win, but you have to score. I say it every year that the defense is key. We have a young goalie with Melanie Cruz. She’s a senior but it’s her first year in goal. She’s getting her feet wet. We have to defend and we have to help her.”
Edinburg took third in the Brownsville tournament. The Bobcats lost to Valley View before shutting out Rio Hondo, La Joya High, Sharyland High and Porter. They lost to Hanna in the gold division semis, but bounced back to claim third after downing Brownsville Veterans.
The Bobcats’ offense is led by senior Miriela, who scored more than 20 goals last year. Freshman Amily Rodriguez will take over the center mid-position while a pair of sophomores, Emily De La Garza and Dana Cruz will be at the wings.
“We had a full team at the Brownsville tournament. To be honest, with COVID there are so many uncertainties, someone could call at any time and they have to sit out. It could happen tonight,” Elizarraz said. “We finished third in Brownsville so I at least know what type of team they are when everyone’s playing.”
TWO RGV TEAMS RANKED
McAllen Rowe and Brownsville Porter were both ranked in the Texas Girls Coaches Association statewide poll released Tuesday.
Rowe (6-0-0) came in ranked No. 9 in Class 5A and Porter (5-0-2) was No. 12. The Warriors won all four of their matches in the McAllen ISD Girls Soccer Showcase, downing San Antonio Taft, Corpus Christi Flour Bluff, Corpus Christi Calallen and Corpus Christi King.