Marble Falls boys soccer beats Weiss
CAPTION: Marble Falls goalie Jett Marcum continues to be the final line of defense for the Mustangs. Photos by Shaunna Marcum/ShaunnaLisa
The Marble Falls High School boys soccer team went 1-1-1 at the Capital Classic Jan. 8-10 hosted by Round Rock Cedar Ridge.
The Mustangs’ (2-2-3) lone win came against Plfugerville Weiss 1-0 thanks to a free kick by Eliezer Chocoj from 25 yards out after Justin Buezo Lopez was fouled.
“(Weiss) was a big, physical team,” head coach Ryan Craven said. “We started out slow but weathered the storm and we played with them. They had their chances. Jett Marcum was huge in the goal. And our defense played sound just as a unit. We defended really well and really smart. And then we possessed the ball to take some pressure off the defense.”
Chocoj leads the team in scored goals with three in seven matches.
“He kicked it over the wall and it went in the back of the net, so that was a nice shot,” the coach said. “It was hard work that got the foul and Eli capitalized on a skill set, which is really shooting.”
The tie was against Cedar Ridge 1-1. The lone goal was by Aaron Luna on a penalty kick after the Raiders were called for a hand ball in the box. Craven said he lets the players decide who’s going to attempt those kicks.
“It’s whomever has the confidence to take it,” he said.
Meanwhile, Marcum saved a penalty kick to keep the score tied.
“That was a game where we knew we were playing more defensively, and we gave up a goal kind of midway through the second half,” Craven said. “It was a real physical game, the most physical game we’ve played all year. The refs really let us play. So I was really pleased with our kids, who really toughened up a lot. I’ve been challenging them since they were freshmen to get tougher and play through the pain. And then, like we did all year, we didn’t really blink. We just kept playing, and we were able to draw a penalty kick with about 10 minutes or 15 minutes left to tie it up 1-1, and then we just kind of held on for dear life at the end to keep it tied.”
The loss was to Leander Rouse 5-1.
“It wasn’t as bad as the score was,” he added. “We were shorthanded and I had some guys kind of injured, so I started taking them out in the second half, because we were beat up. It very easily could have been 2-2, but we hit the post and then at the start of the second half, we missed a wide-open goal on a breakaway. I just made a coach’s decision when they scored their third goal to just start rotating people out to try to help us recover for Friday’s game. So it wasn’t a 5-1 beating; it was more of an off day and then me wanting to take some pressure off our guys and put some other people in there.”
Marble Falls will travel to play at San Antonio Kennedy (5-0) with the junior varsity playing at 5:30 p.m. and the varsity at 7:30 p.m.
“We beat them last year 5-0, but they’re a much improved team this year, so it’ll be interesting to see which team shows up,” Craven said.
CAPTION: Marble Falls’ Toni Flores (right) gives the Mustangs solid minutes thanks to his tenacity. Photo by Shaunna Marcum/ShaunnaLisa
