Mena, Torres share MVPs

It's probably no coincidence that Valley View's Omar Mena and Harlingen South's Pat Torres share many positive qualities.

They're both midfielders, a position that requires players to be proficient in front of both goals. They both captained their teams, with both their coaches and teammates recognizing their leadership skills. They're both headed to play college soccer next year, proving that their talents are recognized beyond the Rio Grande Valley.

And, as they'd both say was the most important, their teams had special seasons. Mena's Tigers captured a district title on the final day of the season, eventually advancing to a regional semifinal, while Torres' Lady Hawks went undefeated in league play and also lost in a regional semifinal.

For Mena and Torres' efforts, they have been named as The Monitor's Valley boys and girls Most Valuable Players, respectively. Simply put, they were the most important players on two of the Valley's best teams. And they both can tell stories about just how much their impact meant to their respective teams.

Torres, who captained the Lady Hawks to a 14-0, found out in a pretty painful way just how much she was needed. With All-Valley forward Abigail Saldivar already sidelined with an injury, the Lady Hawks needed Torres to step up against San Antonio Reagan.

Instead, after a collision just 30 seconds into the regional semifinal, Torres was having trouble stepping at all, injuring her left knee.

Though Torres, who scored 10 goals and added 25 assists, sounds like a modest kid, she quickly responded when asked how the game would have changed if she hadn't gotten injured.

"It would have been a different ballgame," Torres said of what turned into a 2-1 season-ending loss, one that saw the Lady Hawks struggle to advance the ball.

Hawks coach Omar Pedroza wasn't quite as blunt when asked about Torres' absence in that game. He was, however, quite direct in his praise her play in 2008. Not only was Torres a first-team District 31-5A midfielder, she was also the only senior on the Lady Hawks.

Not in their usual starting 11, but on the entire squad.

"First of all, she probably plays the toughest position on the field, which is right in the middle. They say if you control the middle, you control the game and so, we've done so well that I guess she's done a good job," Pedroza said. "She doesn't score that much but what she does, she'll attract a lot of people and make it a lot easier for everybody else to score.

"You don't have to score a bunch of goals to be very effective but Pat brings in a lot of people and makes things easier for everybody else."

That's also something Mena can talk about.

Mena, whose team won the District 32-4A championship on the final day of the regular season, scored 26 times for Valley View. He did it while being targeted by opponents, as he would also be marked by at least one opposing player.

That's something Mena sounded proud of.

"I saw that as them telling me I'm important," Mena said. "I didn't know before that that my game was that good. A lot of timesduring games, the coaches were screaming, ‘Get No. 10, get No. 10' all night. That gave me a lot of confidence in myself personally and my game.

"That helped me a lot. I put more effort in because that made me feel good they were doing that."

Mena's coach, Jesus Ochoa, also had plenty of confidence in Mena, enough to name him a captain. He also had enough confidence in Mena to play him all over the field, but preferring to keep him in the midfield where he could have the most impact.

And, like Torres, attract attention so other teammates could score goals.

"He was the leading scorer in our district, so he was in such good condition that he wouldn't tire. He would score one or two goals per game," Ochoa said. "Whenever we were down, he would talk to our players. He was our leader. It wasn't just scoring, he was a great passer. He had 18 assists, and that helped us too."

Unfortunately for Torres and Mena, they have something else in common. Both of their teams lost just two playoff wins from a trip to the state semifinals. But both took those defeats the same way.

"Going out like this my senior year, that was difficult," said Torres, who will play at Our Lady of the Lake in San Antonio while Mena will move on to Texas College in Tyler. "I think that's going to help me for college."

Brian Sandalow covers high school soccer for The Monitor. You can reach him at (956) 683-4436.