Texan soccer earns playoff position
The Wimberley Texan boys’ soccer team is in a tight race to qualify for the post season and every point matters. After a huge week with a tie against Fredericksburg and a win against Bandera, Wimberley has assured themselves of the most important thing – a trip to the playoffs.
On Tuesday of last week, Fredericksburg came to town.
“Going into the game, we were talking about getting something,” Soccer Coach Ramez Antoun said. “Whether it be a point on a tie or three points on a win, coming off a 1-0 loss to them in our first game, we had to get something.”
The Texans scored first to take a 1-0 before the Battlin’ Billies struck back early in the second half. With about 15 minutes left on the clock, Wimberley took back a 2-1 lead, but Fredericksburg was able to tie it up late.
“We were disappointed we couldn’t hold on to the win, but we got a point on the tie,” Antoun said.
That led to a match up with Bandera. The top four teams in the district make the playoffs, and Wimberley and Bandera were in the fourth and fifth spots.
“We knew they were hungry and desperate,” Antoun said. “They had nothing to lose, and they came at us. Our defense held strong.”
Wimberley went up 2-0 in the first half on goals from Gage Tumlinson and Eric Solis. Wim berley gave up a goal about halfway through the second half but was able to hang on to victory.
The game also marked the final home game of the season, which doubled as Senior Night. There are six seniors on the roster including Conner Collier, Charles Tamplin, Axel Hernandez, Ricky Edelen, Vance Jones and Lucas Craig.
“I’ve been here four years, so these seniors were freshmen my first year here,” Antoun said. “It was my first group in Wimberley to see all the way through, so it is special to watch them graduate… These seniors have set a great example for all the other kids and established what Texan soccer should look like both in practices and in games and I’m really indebted to them for that.”
The win secures the Texans a spot in the playoffs with an opportunity still available to take third place. That will come down to a game on Monday night against Davenport with a win needed to move up in the standings. The game will be on the road at 7 p.m.