Loud & Clear

The 2008 boys soccer season in the Rio Grande Valley was one that had some familiar plotlines (the dominance of Brownsville schools), some unusual (no team advancing past the regional semifinals) and of course featured some efforts that deserved more than just a slap on the back.

One such effort was the performance of Brownsville Rivera's Alex Rios, the Valley's offensive player of the year. Rios tied for the District 32-5A lead with 17 goals and helped the Raiders clinch a district title. Perhaps his biggest goals came in the district finale against rival Brownsville Lopez. With the district title on the line, Rios scored two goals in a 3-1 win, helping the Raiders win a 32-5A title one year after reaching the state semifinals.

Though the Raiders and their Brownsville rivals couldn't make it to the state tournament, the team that advanced the furthest was Lopez. Although the Lobos lost a shootout to San Antonio Reagan, they might have discovered a star in freshman Moises Gonzalez, the Valley's Newcomer of the Year. Gonzalez, who was called up from junior varsity before the second round of district play, scored eight times and helped the Lobos to three wins in the postseason.

Brownsville Lopez coach Amadeo Escandon was excited about the future.

"He's a tall player. He's got the body of a true forward. He's built, he's got decent speed and he can get the ball between two defenders," Escandon said. "Last time I saw a freshman built like that was maybe six years ago. So it's been a while."

While Escandon can look forward to three years with Gonzalez, La Joya coach Ronny Cabrera won't have defender Salvador Frayre anymore. Frayre, a senior, is the defensive player of the year. Frayre, District 30-5A's defensive player of the year, was one of the leaders for a Coyotes team which recovered from a slow start in district play to go undefeated during the second round.

Thanks to their defense, which allowed only 13 goals during district play, the Coyotes pulled upsets of Brownsville Porter and Edinburg Economedes en route to a trip to San Antonio, where they lost 1-0 to San Antonio Churchill.

La Joya also handed McAllen High its only loss of the district season, a 2-1 defeat on the final day of the regular season. By that game, however, the Bulldogs already clinched the district championship. Making that more impressive was how the Bulldogs did one year ago, slumping to sixth place. For his part in the turnaround, McHi coach Fernando Segovia is the Valley's coach of the year.

Usually, after teams lose, coaches aren't the ones with moistened eyes. But after the Bulldogs lost were eliminated 3-1 by Brownsville Lopez in the area round, Segovia's eyes were as red as any of his players.

It was obvious then just how much the 2008 team meant to him.

"As a coach, especially this team, this was my first four-year full team since I've been there at McHi," Segovia said.
Brian Sandalow covers high school soccer for The Monitor. You can reach him at (956) 683-4436.