Texan soccer finds the right gauge
Sometimes it takes the correct gauge to know when to open the flood gates. In the case of the Wimberley Texan boys’ soccer team, it took two.
For three straight games, the offense was in a drought without a Texan score.. They made sure to change that pattern last week by putting up 14 goals over a two game stretch.
“We went on a threegame dry streak,” Coach Ramez Antoun said. “We lost two games 1-0 and tied the third game 0-0, so defensively we were dialed in. But offensively we hit a dry streak. We had been scoring at a regular clip. Then during this recent stretch we were getting opportunities; we just weren’t finishing them. I told the players if we are getting a lot of shots, and we aren’t scoring, we are doing a lot of things right. It is just that last little bit of quality right in front of the goals.”
After falling behind 2-0 against Canyon Lake, a team Wimberley defeated soundly earlier in the season, Gage Tumlinson scored three goals and Gage Weaver added two more on the way to a 6-2 victory to stay in the fight for the fourth and final playoff position in the district.
“The Gages’ had their fun,” Antoun said.
And then the flood gates opened.
The Texans headed to Great Hearts Northern Oaks on Friday.
“Once the game started, from the word ‘go,’ we were on our game,” Antoun said. “The ball was moving, and we literally scored in the first minute of the game. From there it didn’t stop.”
At halftime, Wimberley led 7-0 on the way to an 8-0 victory.
In an effort to spread the ball around, the Texans began playing people in positions that weren’t typically their forte. It successfully got three players their first career goal on varsity.
Ricky Edelen got his first varsity goal and added two more for a hat trick. Eric Luna also got his first varsity goal. Wimberley then moved Charles Tamplin up from his traditional spot as a defender to a forward. He has been on varsity for three years, but never put one in the back of the net.
“We had a huge punt from our goalkeeper Lucas Craig, and it took one bounce and Charles took it in and put it in the lower right hand corner of the goal. Getting an assist from the goalkeeper is pretty rare too.”
Wimberley staked claim to fourth place in district, one game shy of third place Davenport, with four games remaining in the regular season.
On Tuesday night, the defending state champion Boerne Bulldogs came to town after the Wimberley View’s time of press. The team is off on Friday before playing on the road against Fredericksburg on March 8. Senior Night will be held at home on Friday, March 11.