Marble Falls boys soccer beats Canyon Lake
CAPTION: Ismayl Ismaylov makes his offensive presence felt in giving the Mustangs scoring opportunities. Photo by Stennis Shotts
The Marble Falls High School boys soccer team defeated Fischer Canyon Lake 3-0 Feb. 13 in District 26-4A play.
The Mustangs (7-3-5, 3-1-1) got two goals from Joaquin Aguilar with an assist from Ismayl Ismaylov and a goal from Ismaylov in the second half when a shot by Alan Rivera was deflected.
One of Aguilar’s goals came on a penalty kick when Ismaylov was fouled in the box.
Head coach Ryan Craven called the Ismaylov goal and assisted goal to Aguilar “scrappy goals.”
“We scored two goals close to the box,” he said. “That was good to see.”
Now that the Mustangs beat the Hawks (3-12, 0-5), one match remains in the first round and Mustang Stadium will be the site when Bandera (8-7-1, 3-1-1) and Marble Falls battle for first place at 7:15 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 17. Junior varsity 2 welcomes Georgetown East View at 4:15 p.m. followed by junior varsity 1 versus Bandera at 5:30 p.m. before the varsities play.
Fredericksburg (5-5-1, 4-2) is third, Wimberley (4-8-2, 3-2) is fourth, and San Antonio Davenport (6-3-3, 2-1-2) is in fifth place. Wimberley faces New Braunfels Long Creek (7-6, 1-3) and Fredericksburg has the bye Feb. 17.
The race for the district championship is a tight one and illustrates plenty traits about the competition.
“These other teams are well coached and they have some skilled players who can take over games,” Craven said. “If you’re not prepared, they can bury you. We haven’t played Bandera yet, but they’re well coached. They play good defense, so we have to be ready for them. You can’t really just assume you’re going to win any game, whereas in some districts you can think ‘yeah, we’re going to win this game.’ We’re probably the most skilled team in the district, but we have to keep our focus and then make sure we don’t have mental breakdowns to let teams stay in it or jump up on us.”
The Mustangs end the week by hosting Wimberley Friday, Feb. 20, to begin the second round. The Texans won 2-1 Jan. 27 the first time the two played.
“l obviously hate that we lost, ” Craven said. “But the fact that other people have lost and everything kind of righted the ship as they say, so to speak, to kind of balance everything out, moved the stars back in line in a way. So the fact that we have the opportunity to be in first place after the first round of district play on Tuesday is exciting and I think our boys are excited.”
The coach added that two starters were out because of sickness last week. That allowed others to fill in and the Mustangs haven’t skipped a beat. Add in that other junior varsity players are pushing for varsity spots and Craven believes the program is displaying one of the most important traits when it comes to winning.
“It’s always next man up with our group, and and we’re finding ways to win games and still keep the quality of level high (soccer) with guys who don’t necessarily start at the beginning of the year,” he said. “There’s lots of competition within the team and I tell our kids all the time, ‘Don’t ever think that you have a spot because I’m always looking to replace you,’ and they know that. It’s not a negative, but they need to be on edge to compete with each other, but also be playing at a high level on the field. All the credit goes to kids. They’ve responded to adversity all year long and done a really good job of it, so it makes it fun to coach.”
CAPTION: Junior goalie Jett Marcum’s work in the box has kept opponents from scoring. Photo by Stennis Shotts
