Soccer Notebook: Four tournaments highlight Valley action
The second week of high school soccer in the Rio Grande Valley means more tournaments are on tap.
There are two boys and two girls tournaments scheduled this week, plus several teams are going out of the Valley to play.
For the boys, the Hidalgo-Valley View Tournament begins Thursday, while the Pat Leal Tournament at De Leon Middle School in McAllen starts Friday. For the girls, the Edinburg Lady Cats Tournament begins Thursday and the Brownsville ISD Tournament at Brownsville Sports Park kicks off Friday. Each of the four events has a field of 16 teams.
La Joya Palmview returns to defend its title in the Hidalgo-Valley View Tournament, where the Lobos edged Valley View 1-0 (4-2 penalty kicks) in last year’s final. Also, Brownsville Lopez is back to defend its championship in the Pat Leal Tournament. Lopez edged Weslaco High 2-1 in the 2011 final.
The defending champions will be back in the Lady Cats and BISD tournaments as well. One year ago, Edinburg High slipped past Edinburg Economedes 1-0 in the Lady Cats final, while Lopez prevailed over Brownsville Rivera 1-0 for last season’s BISD championship.
Among the teams traveling out of the Valley for tournaments this week are Brownsville Porter’s boys (Boerne Champion Hill Country Shootout), the Sharyland and Valley View boys (Brenham Diadora Cup), the Sharyland girls (Austin St. Stephen’s Tournament), the Weslaco East girls (Pleasanton Tournament), and the boys teams from Brownsville Hanna, Edinburg Economedes and Edinburg North (Corpus Christi ISD Tournament).
Hanna defeated Converse Judson 3-1 in last year’s CC Tournament final.
ON THE RISE
PSJA High’s girls had never won a tournament until they captured the open division of last weekend’s McAllen ISD Tournament. The Lady Bears prevailed over McAllen High 2-1 (2-1 shootout) in the final as Vicky Rodriguez and Melissa Antonio tallied shootout goals after Antonio scored in regulation.
Previously in the tournament, the Lady Bears defeated La Joya High 2-0, Brownsville Pace 4-0 and Mission High 1-0. Isleny Urbina, a freshman, tallied three goals in the event for PSJA High. Teammate Evelyn Moya was a standout at goalkeeper.
"We were all really excited at our accomplishments," Lady Bears coach Joel Casas said. "It gives us a boost of confidence, especially as we get ready to play the competitive teams in our district. We want our players to continue practicing hard, be focused and not back down."
The Lady Bears face McHi in a rematch in the opening round of this week’s Lady Cats Tournament.
SPOTS TO FILL
The Porter boys are trying to find suitable replacements for center midfielder Hector Gonzalez and sweeper Edgar Leal, both key players who graduated from the 32-4 team that advanced to state last season. Salvador Chavez, Rodrigo Juarez, Reyes Saldivar and Abraham Gutierrez are trying to get the nod at center midfielder for the Cowboys, while Edgardo Vidal, Edgar Sanchez and Francisco Limas are the top contenders to take over for Leal.
The Cowboys are coming off Tuesday’s 0-0 tie at Donna. They’ll be playing at the Boerne event beginning Thursday against Champion, San Antonio schools Lee and Clark, and Austin St. Stephen’s. The team held fund-raisers to earn money for the trip.
STILL UNBEATEN
The Sharyland girls, ranked No. 1 in the Valley, won the Border Olympics Tournament in Laredo last weekend for the eighth time in nine years. They won all six games by shutout in the tournament, including a 2-0 victory over Laredo United in the final, thanks to goals by Blanca "Makis" Gomez and Daniela Cantu. The Lady Rattlers’ defense earned the tournament MVP award for not allowing a goal.
Combined with Monday’s win over Hidalgo, the Sharyland girls are now 7-0 on the season.
Roy Hess writes for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him via e-mail at rhess@brownsvilleherald.com.
