Marble Falls boys soccer loses to Austin Achieve
CAPTION: Marble Falls’ Eli Chocoj scored the Mustangs’ only goal against Austin Achieve. Photo by Shaunna Marcum/ShaunnaLisa
The Marble Falls High School boys soccer team lost to Austin Achieve 2-1 Jan. 6 in the Mustangs’ home opener.
It was the Polar Bears’ first win over the Mustangs since 2023, snapping a four-match losing streak.
“We started out really on fire, given a lot of effort,” head coach Ryan Craven said. “We’re playing really well defensively. But then we started turning the ball over too much and not playing soccer. We’re playing kickball.”
The Mustangs’ (1-1-2) lone goal came from Eli Chocoj, who scored off a ricochet in the first half.
The Polar Bears (2-2), who won the Class 4A Division II state title last year, scored their first goal when the ball went over the goalie’s head with 27 minutes and 55 seconds remaining in the contest.
Then the Mustangs were issued a red card with about 10 minutes remaining in the contest, which means they played the rest of the matchup with only 10 players to Achieve’s 11. The reason is because officials said a Mustang hit a Polar Bear on a breakaway toward the goal.
Achieve scored what turned out to be the winning goal with 6:15 left.
Marble Falls had couple of chances.
With 3:46 left, senior Joaquin Aguilar dribbled into the box and passed, but the shot was missed.
Then a Mustang was tackled in the box with 80 seconds left and no call was made.
“Achieve is a good team,” Craven said. “We were up on them and had our chances. I should have put our guys in a little bit better situation, I should have made some better adjustments.”
He noted the Mustangs have played in more matches than they’ve had practices in the last eight days leading up to the match.
“I think we’re a little tired from last weekend (playing in the Governor’s Cup in Georgetown) probably,” the coach said. “We’ve had really one practice. I gave him off (Jan. 5) because they needed the rest. So we’ll practice (Jan. 7) and then we’ll be ready to go Thursday, Friday and Saturday.”
That’s when the Mustangs are competing in the Capital Classic hosted by Round Rock Cedar Ridge. They face Leander Rouse Thursday, Jan. 8, Cedar Ridge Friday, Jan. 9, and Pflugerville Weiss Saturday, Jan. 10. All matches are at 1:30 p.m.
“We just have to play soccer,” Craven said. “Like I said a second ago, we have to work on possessing the ball a little bit better and not just kicking a ball forward every time. We’ve been able to do that because we had speed and skill. Now we need to hold onto the ball. We win a ball, we just want to kick it or we take too long to get it off a foot.”
CAPTION: Marble Falls’ David Dominguez challenges for the ball and does what he can to gain possession for the Mustangs. Photo by Shaunna Marcum/ShaunnaLisa
