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Sunday, January 14, 2001

Vipers prevail in battle of the banged up
Injuries, illnesses keep several starters out in Victoria Memorial 6-1 win over Kingsville
By George Vondracek
Caller-Times
Battle-tested in two previous tournaments, Victoria Memorial High School won the war of the walking wounded Saturday afternoon over Kingsville and, with it, the CCISD Gulf Coast Boys Soccer Classic.
   The Vipers handed the Brahmas, 6-1, at the Cabaniss Soccer Field for their second tournament title in three tries. Memorial previously won the San Antonio tournament and finished second in their tourney last weekend.
   Because of the injury problems plaguing both teams - the Vipers and Brahmas were without three starters each and had others who were banged up - coaches opted to reduce the game to two 30-minute halves instead of the normal 40-minute stanzas.
   "It's varied from injuries to flu and all that,'' said Memorial coach Tim Eaton, whose Vipers improved to 8-1. "It's given the younger kids a lot of playing time. Really, I didn't expect to get this far.''
   The Vipers did, allowing only three goals in five tournament contests while scoring 15 times. Against the Brahmas, junior J.B. Hewell and sophomore Dustin Hiller scored two goals apiece and tournament offensive MVP Jake Cihal had a goal and an assist. Memorial led at intermission, 4-1, and the Brahmas were unable to get a shot off in the second half.
   "With this group, we're definitely more polished,'' Eaton said. "We played some good teams in the last three weeks. The San Antonio tournament had Reagan, Taft and Ray was up there. All those teams are tough. And we had our tournament with Marshall, Holmes and (Converse) Judson. And we played Carroll the other night.
   "We've just had a series of tough games that seasoned our guys. I've always tried to schedule tough games because it doesn't matter where you are in January. District is what counts.''
   Judson is ranked second in the San Antonio area just ahead of San Antonio Lee, which fell to the Vipers in the semifinals, 3-2.
   The Brahmas had allowed only one goal in the three pool games on Friday and the semifinals Saturday before the Memorial game. But the Vipers scored early and often, with Hewell, Noe Davila and Hiller scoring in the first 17 minutes of the opening half against Kingsville goalkeeper Hunter Taylor, the tournament's defensive MVP.
   Kingsville's lone goal was scored by Jason Lerma on a penalty kick in the 20th minute.
   "We're beat up, we really are,'' said Kingsville coach David Montano, whose 6-3 Brahmas reached the title game by edging Carroll in a 6-5 shootout after the teams fought to a scoreless tie in regulation. "Seven games in a week's span is a lot of games. We're pretty banged up.''
   In the third-place match, Steven Villarreal's goal in the 28th minute was enough for Carroll, which blanked Lee, 1-0.

   CCISD GULF COAST BOYS SOCCER CLASSIC
   Flight 1 (pool champions)
   Championship
   Victoria Memorial 6, Kingsville 1
   First half - 1, VM, J.B. Hewell (unassisted), 6th minute; 2, VM, Noe Davila (Jake Cihal), 12th; 3, VM, Dustin Hiller (u/a), 17th; 4, Kingsville, Jason Lerma (penalty kick), 20th; 5, VM, Hiller (u/a), 22nd.
   Second half - 6, VM, Cihal, (u/a), 41st; 7, VM, Hewell (u/a), 43rd.
   Saves - VM, Chris Campbell 1; Kingsville, Hunter Taylor 6. Shots-VM 10, Kingsville 2. Records-VM 8-1, Kingsville 6-3.

   Third place
   Carroll 1, S.A. Lee 0
   First half - 1, Carroll, Steven Villarreal (Roy Rolong), 28th minute.
   Saves -Lee, Jorge Gonzalez 2; Carroll, Ryan Bledsoe 3. Shots-Lee 5, Carroll 5.
   Semifinals - Victoria 3, Lee 2; Kingsville 0, Carroll 0 (Kingsville, 6-5 shootout).
   Flight 2 (pool runners-up) - Championship: Ray 1, Flour Bluff 0. Third place: Edinburg North 2, McAllen 2 (EN, 4-3 shootout). Semifinals: Ray 1, EN 0; FB 1, McAllen 0. Flight 3 -- Championship: Calallen 3, King 1. Third place: Austin LBJ 2, Miller 1. Semifinals: Calallen 2, Miller 0; King 2, LBJ 0. Flight 4 -Championship: Moody 2, Rockport-Fulton 1. Third place: Tuloso-Midway 3, Robstown 0. Semifinals: Moody 7, Robstown 0; R-F 1, T-M 1 (R-F, 4-3 shootout.

   Most valuable offensive player - Jake Cihal, Victoria. Most valuable defensive player-Hunter Taylor, Kingsville.
   All-tournament -Calallen: Nick Cleavelin. Carroll: Sebastian Giraldo; Jason Ramirez, Carroll. Edinburg North: Eric Contreras. Flour Bluff: Joe Pierce. King: James Speed. Kingsville: Marcus Lozano. McAllen: Mario Beltran. Moody: Jesus Gonzalez. Ray: Adrian Franco. Rockport-Fulton: Cole Lopez. S.A. Lee: Robin Martinez. Victoria: Noe Davila; Bryan Plavidal; John Weaver.



Staff writer George Vondracek can be reached at 886-3731 or by e-mail at vondracekg@caller.com

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