Marble Falls boys soccer looks to continue success
CAPTION: Marble Falls senior Joaquin Aguilar is one of several experienced Mustangs aiming to keep the Mustangs’ tradition going. File photo
The Marble Falls High School boys soccer team will take the field for the first time when Mustangs welcome Burnet for scrimmages Friday, Dec. 12, at Mustang Stadium.
The junior varsity B team competes at 4 p.m., the junior varsity A squad at 5:30 p.m. and the varsity at 6:45 p.m.
Marble Falls will travel to Pflugerville for three scrimmages Saturday, Dec. 13.
“I’m gonna be mixing around different lineups and just tactical stuff and schemes,” said Ryan Craven, who is entering his second year at the helm. “I just want to see what works with us, what gels, what doesn’t work. Obviously, we want to say that we won. But the big thing is seeing where we’re at as a team, what we need to work on because when we go against each other in practice, it’s really, really competitive. Our twos are giving our ones a run for the money. And then when you put it all together, the ones are doing a really good job. We’re pretty evenly matched, just with our skill set on our team. Everybody’s pushing each other.”
The Mustangs feature a slew of familiar faces to a squad that finished 15-7-3 overall and was the District 26-4A with a 7-1-2. They lost to La Vernia 1-0 in the area round of the playoffs.
Top of the list of returners are seniors Joaquin Aguilar, twins Daniel and David Dominguez, William Guzman, Aaron Luna and Drake Taylor and junior goalie Jett Marcum. Marcum is the starting goalie, but that position has depth with four goalies including Knox Elder.
“I have some solid goalies,” the coach said.
The Mustangs scored 36 goals in 10 district matches last year. But that squad featured 18 players who have graduated.
“We’re losing some some firepower this year,” Craven said. “But I would say that our team chemistry this year is better than it was last year.”
And that will be important as the district welcomes New Braunfels Long Creek, a new high school that opened in August 2024 and will play on the varsity level for the first time this year. The Dragons’ head coach is Roque Palomino, who is married to former Marble Falls High School girls soccer head coach Abigail Blunt. Before Long Creek, he was the Lago Vista head coach.
Blunt resigned to take over the Lady Dragons soccer program at the end of the 2023-24 school year.
Other district members include Bandera, Fischer Canyon Lake, Fredericksburg, San Antonio Davenport and Wimberley.
Defending district champion Davenport lost in the regional semifinals in the Division I playoff tournament. Fredericksburg, which finished third in the district standings, advanced to the Class 4A Division II Region IV final where it lost to eventual state champion Austin Achieve. Achieve eliminated Bandera in the first round.
“Our district is a tough district,” Craven said. “There’s not really a team you’re like ‘Oh, we should definitely go in there and stomp them’ because everybody’s good. (Palomino) is a good coach. He’ll have them coached up. I think there’ll be about five teams battling for four (playoff) spots and really about three teams battling for the top spot. So hopefully we’re battling the last week of the season for that.”
District members will play each other twice to decide the standings. District play begins Jan. 27 when the Mustangs travel to Wimberley.
“Wimberley is usually a pretty good team,” the coach said. “They just had a down year last year.”
The La Vernia loss has fueled this program. Marble Falls outshot the Bears 20-8 “and just couldn’t get it to go in,” Craven said.
The Mustangs’ pre-district schedule is packed with challenging opponents that include Leander Rouse, Leader Weiss and Georgetown East View, which won District 23-5A and reached the third round of the Class 5A Division I playoffs.
The Mustangs will host their annual alumni contest at 6:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 19, at the high school before breaking for the Christmas holiday. They’ll return to compete in the Governor’s Cup Showcase hosted by Georgetown Independent School District Thursday-Saturday, Jan. 1-3.
