Boys’ soccer focused on making the playoffs

Wimberley’s boys’ soccer team fell to Fredericksburg last Friday in a 1-0 loss.

“We went to Fredericksburg with high hopes high but we didn’t give our best in this game,” Wimberley Texan boys’ soccer coach related, Wimberley boys’ soccer coach related. “We had a little different game plan but it didn’t really work out. About 18 minutes into the first half, we fell behind a goal on a defense lapse down the left side of the field.”

But, with eight minutes to go in the second half, a Fredericksburg foul in the box gave the Texans a chance to tie the game with a penalty kick. But, the Wimberley kicker shot wide and the score stayed 1-0 as time ran out.

“We quickly went from second place in district standings to fourth,” Coach Antoun commented. “Now the four teams in our half of the district are separated from top to bottom by only four points. On Friday, we go to Canyon Lake and right now they are tied with Boerne for second. Everything is so tight so every game matters. Being only three points out of first, we have to focus on what’s in front of us and that’s Canyon Lake. After the Spring break we go to Bandera and that’s the end of the regular season.”

Earlier in the week, the soccer team won 6-1 over Bandera in District 24A play l and upped the Texans record for the season to 10-8-1. The teams played on a very narrow field of natural grass and dirt in rough condition due to recent rainy weather.

Early in the first period, Remy Wade scored his second goal of the season on a penalty kick then the dam broke so goals came in bunches as the Texans scored almost at will. Alan Hernandez got his 12th goal of the year and Jack Cole notched his 11th while Jack Bruner scored his third of the season. Ian Crain notched his first goal of the year as did Edgar Jimenez.

According to Texan coach Ramez Antoun, Bandera has only two seniors on the squad so they’re going through a rebuilding year. “Actually their goal keeper was pretty good,” Coach Antoun commented. Otherwise, we could have scored even more goals without his strong play. “The game stood 4-0 at half, so we didn’t pour it on.”

We’ve also set a maximum on how many goals we score on a clearly weaker team, which is not scoring past seven goals because we’re not interested in running up the score. That’s not what we teach our players. We have a rule which says “Win with class, tie with class, loose with class.” Some coaches allow their players to keep scoring 18 or 19 goals in a game just for the record and stats. We don’t.”

A plus for the Texans in this second round of district play is their schedule because they’ll play most of their games in the second round at Wimberley Texan stadium. But, the most important statistic for all teams is where they finish after the second round. If a team sits in the fourth position, they automatically get bracketed against the top team in other half of the district for bi-district play. Right now, that’s powerful Liberty Hill with a record of 13-3-2.

Luckily, Coach Antoun got some of his “wounded warriors” back at the right time as defender Ramsey Frank played the full 80 minutes against Bandera and Brian Maguire played 65 minutes. Both starters, they had been out with injuries for several recent games.