Soccer Notebook: 32-5A boys teams impressive in tournament play

District 32-5A boys soccer teams, particularly those from Brownsville, enjoyed quite a strong showing in tournaments last weekend.

Brownsville Rivera captured the championship of the Hidalgo-Valley View Tournament, defeating crosstown rival Brownsville Pace 2-0 in the final on goals by junior forward Luis Lopez and freshman outside midfielder Isidro Martinez.

Rivera won one of the two groups in pool play and Pace took the other to qualify for the tournament semifinals, where both teams won. Also, in the tournament, Los Fresnos finished tied for second in Rivera's group but lost out on a tiebreaker as La Joya Palmview advanced instead.

"We received a lot of compliments (for the level of our play at the tournament)," Rivera coach Salvador Garcia said. "Our performance level went up and up beginning with our (3-0) win over Palmview (on the tournament's second day)."

Brownsville Porter also was impressive in winning the Boerne Champion Hill Country Shootout by going 3-1 in the tournament. The Cowboys defeated San Antonio Clark 4-3 (shootout), San Antonio Lee 6-0 and Boerne Champion 3-0 while losing to Austin St. Stephen's 2-1. Porter finished in a three-way tie for the tournament championship and took the title on a goal differential. Alan Cortinas, a junior forward, led Porter with seven goals in the three-day event.

"It was a very good tournament with great competition and great teams that gave us a great experience," Porter coach Jose Espitia said. "It was definitely worth the expense (to go to Boerne). Every dollar (raised by fund-raisers) was worth it."

Also, at the Pat Leal Tournament in McAllen last weekend, San Benito reached the final before losing to Edinburg High 2-0, while Brownsville Lopez took third place with a 2-0 victory over Brownsville Veterans.

Brownsville Hanna took second in the Corpus Christi Tournament with a 4-1 record, losing 2-1 to Alamo Heights in the final, as Jose Humberto de la Garza, Carlos Acevedo and Felix Becerra each scored three goals.

REBUILDING YEAR

The Harlingen South Lady Hawks may successfully defend their District 31-5A championship again this season, and if they do, it will be with a mostly new group of players.

"It's definitely a rebuilding year for us," South coach Omar Pedroza said. "We lost seven starters from last year. I told the girls at the beginning of the season that all this month in our tournaments we're just going to let everyone play and see who can do what. We also have some girls who are hurt. Hopefully, right before we start district (Jan. 31) we'll have our 11 starters.

"There are some positive things that have come out of our tournaments," he added. "I've gotten to see some girls who can help us down the road. That's the main thing at this point."

The Lady Hawks will be playing in the 10-team San Benito Girls Dog Pound Tournament beginning Friday at San Benito Veterans Memorial Academy and moving to Bobby Morrow Stadium for Saturday's semifinals and final, which is set for 5 p.m.

South didn't play in the San Benito Tournament last year when it was won by San Benito with a 4-0 triumph over Edcouch-Elsa in the final.

CASE FOR 4A GIRLS

It may have been a surprise to some to see La Joya Juarez-Lincoln playing Roma in last weekend's Brownsville ISD Girls Tournament final as the Lady Huskies beat Harlingen South 2-0 and the Lady Gladiators defeated McAllen Memorial 3-1 in the semifinals.

Triumphing 1-0 over Roma brought the Lady Huskies their first tournament title.

Juarez-Lincoln coach Alex Davila was asked if the showing by his team and the Lady Gladiators made a statement for the Rio Grande Valley's 4A girls teams.

"We don't get as much attention as the Valley's 5A schools get, so yes, you could say as such," Davila said. "I think you could say that we stand pretty well, both Roma and us (after this tournament). It's sometimes hard to judge a team just from a tournament, but yes, I think it's a statement.

"It was a hard two days playing some good teams (in the tournament)," he added. "We have a young team, and I'm proud of these girls. Props to them. They're the ones (who won the championship)."

CLOSE RIVALRY

The rivalry between the Mission High and Mission Veterans boys has become quite close in the past week. The Eagles and Patriots met in pool play at the Hidalgo-Valley View Tournament last Saturday and tied 1-1. The two teams finished tied for second place in their group at the tournament, and the Patriots advanced to the semifinals on a two-goal differential over the Eagles.

The two Mission teams played each other again Tuesday and tied 0-0. They could meet again later this week as both are entered in the La Joya Tournament. 

Roy Hess writes for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him via e-mail at rhess@brownsvilleherald.com