Last week, Wimberley High School Texan soccer sat comfortably in fourth position in the district behind Boerne, Fredericksburg and Davenport High Schools.
After a strong start in preseason and tournament play, they were encouraged and expected to make gains against the teams regularly seeded highest in district. While there is a certain level of disappointment, Coach Ramez Antoun said he saw progress and believes his team shows determination and believes in their ability to rise in the standings before the end of season, improving their position and playoff seeding.
“We’ve played close in a couple of the losses and I think we can get one or two of those back,” shared Antoun. “The guys are trying really hard and putting in the effort. It’s a tough district but it only serves to make us tougher.”
The Texans came out aggressive in the matchup against Great Heart Northern Oaks (0-2 district) putting up three goals in the first eight minutes. The scoring deluge allowed Coach Antoun to begin early substitutions and rearranging the field — placing offensive players at the defensive end and vice-versa. The team had a short bench with a few regulars out for various reasons. This allowed three freshmen to move up from the junior varsity squad to gain field experience with the varsity. Ian Craig remains the mainstay in goal but split the game with Jack Boyle. Both preserved a Texan shutout.
“Jack’s come out his senior year wanting to try something. He now has three or four games under his belt and is putting in the work,” said Antoun. “I would love to see what he would have looked like with three or more years of experience.”
The Texans continued scoring in the second half, finishing with seven goals. Owen Watson and Nick Dunn each netted two goals while Gage Tumlinson, Gage Weaver and freshman Joel Carrasco added one goal apiece.
Coach Antoun shared his opinion regarding the first half of district play and his expectations for the second half. “We’ve had a good first half considering the weather obstacles and other variables. If we beat the teams we’re supposed to and score more points than we did in the first half, we can make a legitimate move in district. We’ve got to take them one at a time — starting with Canyon Lake — then moving on to Fredericksburg. We have most of these teams at home which should be an advantage. There are a couple of teams we can get but we’ve got to play sound soccer and start healthy. I like the way it sets up for us.”
Coming out of the Great Heart victory, Coach Antoun’s Texan Soccer team were acutely aware the second half of district play held promise. Antoun was clear on the directives: there are ‘need to haves’ and there are ‘like to haves’ and team effort and focus would need to be sharp for any hope to draw close to the top of the district before playoffs.
Canyon Lake High School at home last Tuesday, Feb. 21, was the definition of ‘need to have.’ Texan Soccer handled business with the Hawks in their early season match and a repeat would springboard into a good second half.
“We came out sharp and aggressive and we stayed three,” commented Antoun. “I was really happy the way we looked and were up 3-0 at the half. It was a second good offensive output in a row after the Great Heart game. We were able to get most everybody involved in the game to pick up some time on the field.”
Up by three going into the second half, the team spoke of not allowing the Hawks to get behind them for any cheap goals. 17 seconds into the half, Canyon Lake slipped in a goal to make the score 3-1 and reset the Texan resolve. The rest of the match was played on the Canyon Lake end.
“To the kids credit, they responded. Instead of letting that crush him, they erased that goal by scoring another right away and then got another at the very end to finish 5-1. It was a fairly dominating performance with the exception of the first 17 seconds of the second half,” said Antoun.
Gage Weaver scored three while Gage Tumlinson added one goal and Daniel Jimenez notched his first varsity score. Assists same from Weaver, Kyan McAtee, Tumlinson, Dunn and Avi Buchenbacher.
Fredericksburg came calling Friday night in an example of the ‘like to have’ match. The early February match on the Billies’ home pitch was marred by weather delays and bitterly cold conditions. The Texans went down 2-0 and looked to avenge the loss at home.
“A good result was necessary for our district hopes, to try to move up from fourth position to third,” remarked Antoun. “We needed points but so did they. It made for a defensive match.”
Looking for the win, the Texans came out aggressive. The Billiies were able to counter defensively and stymie our offensive rhythm. By the same token, the Texan defense kept Fredericksburg off of the board leading to a scoreless tie at the end of the first half.
“Scoreless at halftime, my my approach was that we didn’t really play great half and we’re tied. I told them we could play better and get the win,” recalled Antoun. “In the second half I credit our guys for tightening the screws, closing down space, suffocated flat all over the field and gave them no space to to get comfortable on the ball. We had two really good chances in the second half to put the ball in the net and just just wide of the post twice.”
Ian Craig came up with brilliant saves in goal in the last three minutes to keep the game scoreless and preserve the tie.
Antoun remarked about his team’s performance in a much needed game. “We had a good showing. The kids came out on the front foot, they came out strong, aggressive, fast and confident. They did everything we asked them to do. Sometimes the ball goes in, like on Tuesday, and sometimes it doesn’t.”
The Texans faced Davenport High School at home on Tuesday and are away Friday against Bandera before a final week of district play at home versus Boerne High School on Tuesday, March 7 and Great Heart Northern Oaks on Friday, Mar. 10 at 6 p.m. from Texan Stadium.
