Marble Falls boys soccer beats Valley View
Photo by Martelle Luedecke/Luedecke Photography
The Marble Falls High School boys soccer team defeated Pharr Valley View 1-0 March 27 in a Class 4A Division I Region IV semifinal.
The win means the Mustangs (17-3-5, 10-1-1 District 26-4A champion) will face district foe San Antonio Davenport (15-4-3, 8-2-2) at 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 31, at Kerrville Tivy’s Antler Stadium in the regional final. It’s the first time the Mustangs have played in a regional final in school history.
The lone goal was scored by Eliezer Chocoj on an assist from Joaquin Aguilar in the first half.
But the goal actually started on a ricochet from a Tigers’ free kick. Drake Taylor, who used his head to pass the ball Ismayl Ismaylov, “won the ball in the air,” Craven said.
Ismaylov spotted Aguilar at midfield and passed to him. From there, Aguilar passed to Chocoj, who outran everyone to get to the ball then went one on one with the goalie. He waited a second longer to give the goalie time to commit to how he wanted to try to stop the ball. When the Mustang saw that, he kicked the ball into the left pocket for the goal and sent the Mustangs into a frenzy.
“That’s a type of movement that we work in practice where we play out to the striker, then he lays it off wide like he does,” Craven said. “So once again to see the kids apply stuff they do in practice in the game is cool. The goal started with defense defending on a set piece. Obviously didn’t like giving up a foul, but we defended, won the ball and got it up the field like we’re supposed to to get a counterattack and we capitalized on it.”
He also credited assistant coach Roy Gatlin for giving Chocoj a key command just before the play began.
“Coach Gatlin was telling Eli to get back faster because he was offsides,” Craven said. “He was able to get onsides just in the nick of time as that ball was about to be flicked out to him. He got back just in time to be able to kick the burners on and then just be calm under pressure and just put it in the back of the net just real like he’d done it a million times.”
Though that was the only score of the match, Craven noted the Mustangs “had a lot of opportunities in the first half.”
And they Mustangs “took the wind” after winning the toss to start the game.
“We weathered the storm in the second half that they came out with in the first 15 minutes,” the coach said. “(Goalie) Jett (Marcum) made some big saves. I thought our back line, especially our center backs, Drake and Will (Guzman), did a good job of winning balls in the air and covering for each other in case one of them missed the ball. And then we had just enough possessions in the second half to not really allow them to push everybody up because we were still getting chances and shots on goal in the second half, going against that 30 mph wind.”
Perhaps the Tigers’ best scoring opportunity came when Marcum was on the turf and the ball was rolling into the goal.
“My heart just sank because I thought it was going in,” Craven said. “He was able to somehow get off the ground and dive and grab it, so he saved it. He jumped up and leaped over there and grabbed it.”
With the Mustangs going against the wind in the second half, Craven substituted more defenders to protect the lead.
“We had some guys off the bench that haven’t played a whole bunch the (first) two playoff games,” he said. “Demarco Davis hasn’t played a ton. He plays our winger position. He stepped up and was able to do a good job and help us defensively, especially that last 20 minutes of the game. So even though he’s not a big-minute guy, he has a certain role on our team that when it presents itself in a game, he can fill in. And that’s just what makes our team great.”
Davenport crushed Beeville Jones 6-0 March 27 in the other semifinal after beating La Vernia 2-1 March 24 in the area round and Austin Northeast 2-0 for a bi-district title March 20.
This will be the third meeting between Marble Falls and Davenport. The two played to a 1-1 tie Feb. 6 at Davenport. Marble Falls won 5-2 March 3 at Mustang Stadium.
Craven said he wasn’t surprised to see the two teams meet in the regional final, noting he and Wolves head coach Robert Watson conversed about it.
“We’ve been talking back-and-forth the whole playoffs, just that it’d be cool if we had a rematch of District 26 for our region,” he said. “Their first two round (matches) were definitely challenging. I’d say we had the tougher game (March 27) than they did, so both teams have been tested.”
