Livingway enjoys memorable fall soccer season with trip to state

Livingway Christian School added to Brownsville’s soccer accomplishments during 2009 by finishing as the TAPPS state runner-up last weekend in Waco.

The Warriors experienced their most successful season in reaching the TAPPS Class 2A fall state tournament final before losing to Kingsville Pan American 6-1 in the title match. Livingway, which had played in the state tournament before but never advanced to the championship match until Saturday, finished 15-1-1 in Eddie Leal’s second year as head coach.

Also this year for Brownsville, the Lopez Lobos advanced to the Class 5A final at the UIL state tournament at Round Rock in April and the Thunder United boys team captured an under-15 youth soccer national championship in North Carolina in July.

“The feeling (of getting to state) is always a good one,” said Leal, who was assisted by Angel Castillo. “Coaching these guys was fairly easy. They adapted to change very well. They worked hard in practice and in the games, and they put a lot of dedication into the game.”

The team’s three senior captains were goalkeeper Mario Hernandez and forwards Cesar Castillo and Javier Azar.

“We had great goalkeeping and great leadership from our captains,” Leal said.

Azar and Mario Hernandez were chosen all-tournament at state along with teammates Aaron Hernandez, a defender, and Julio Seguy, a midfielder.

Rounding out the starting lineup for Livingway were Mario Rincon and Rafael Mendoza in the midfield and Luis Garcia, Luis Treviño, Jonathan Arias and Neekoh Cockins on defense. Helping off the bench were Samuel Juarez, Emilio Sosa III, Robby Gonzales and Sergio Gonzalez.

One year ago, Livingway wound up a victory shy of qualifying for state after losing to DeSoto Canterbury 2-1 in the regional finals.

This year was a different story as the Warriors defeated Conroe Lifestyle 8-2 in Brownsville in the area playoffs before triumphing over Canterbury 4-3 on penalty kicks in Dallas in the regional finals to reach state.

During the state semifinals Friday at Waco, Livingway defeated Longview Christian Heritage 3-1 on goals by Seguy, Azar and Mendoza. Against Kingsville Pan American in the final Saturday, Azar’s Olympic goal off a corner kick midway through the second half was the only tally for the Warriors.

“We had four freshman on the team this season, and there should be eight starters coming back,” Leal said. “We’re already looking forward to next season.”

Roy Hess writes for Valley Freedom Newspapers. You can reach him via e-mail at rhess@brownsvilleherald.com.