’Hounds redefine San Benito soccer with historic season

By MICHAEL RODRIGUEZ
Managing Editor
editor@sbnewspaper.com

HoundsThere’s a first time for everything.

The San Benito Greyhound varsity soccer team has scored 28 points this season en route to its first playoff appearance.

Playing in District 31-5A, the Greyhounds clinched a playoff berth Tuesday, March 19, after dispatching PSJA by a score of 2-0, thanks to goals from Angel Estrada and Juan Diego Cervantes.

San Benito (11-5) faced Weslaco Friday, March 22, and handled the Panthers with a 1-0 victory.

The third place ’Hounds, already celebrating a historic year for the team, also appear primed for not only its first playoff appearance but its first victory while they’re at it. San Benito is expected to meet the Brownsville Rivera Raiders, second place in District 32-5A) in a bi-district clash set for this week.

“It’s been a process,” Greyhound head soccer coach Jesus Ochoa said.

“The first year we worked a lot on technique, like passing, trapping, centering, kicking… everything,” the coach added with a laugh.

But that was three years ago, and now the ’Hounds, who were once considered the least competitive of the Rio Grande Valley soccer squads, are in a position that the San Benito High School boys’ soccer program has never been in before.

“This year, we earned respect in tournaments we played in, especially one in Brownsville,” Ochoa said. “With that respect, they’re looking for us now, so we have to be ready.”

It’s a call for readiness that these ’Hounds have been preparing for since Ochoa came on board three seasons ago. Other basics that were stressed then consisted of more than just conditioning, however.

“We also had a lot of discipline problems the first year,” Ochoa said. “Now this year we concentrated more on grace and discipline.”

Regardless of what happens against the Raiders, Ochoa said San Benito’s future on the soccer pitch remains bright.

“I think we’re building a program here,” Ochoa said. “The JV dark and JV light teams competed for district championships this year, and we’ve got seven juniors and eight to nine sophomores coming back.”

Ochoa is also preparing for life without Angel Estrada next year. The senior All-Valley MVP candidate netted 33 goals this season. This will also be the last year for five other seniors who contributed largely to the team.

Still, Ochoa remains confident and argued that if it was not for a number of injuries sustained late in the season that the ’Hounds would have had a shot at the 31-5A title. “This year we competed for a district championship right up until the last two weeks,” he said.

Permanent link to this article: https://www.sbnewspaper.com/2013/03/26/hounds-redefine-san-benito-soccer-with-historic-season/

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