Burnet boys soccer ties Austin Achieve
CAPTION: Burnet junior Marco Campos-Huerta is a threat to score any time he has a seam to the goal. Photo by Martelle Luedecke/Luedecke Photography
The Burnet High School boys soccer team and Austin Achieve played to a 1-1 tie Feb. 6 in District 25-4A play.
Both goals were scored in the first half with the Polar Bears striking first.
“Well, what I think I’m excited, even though it’s more difficult, is what we have,” head coach Benjamin Boorman said. “An open district, and we have opportunities in front of us. So whereas the district felt like two teams were in charge of their own destiny right from the beginning of the season, it now feels like my side of the division is anybody’s game. The boys are excited. I’m excited and I know all the other coaches are excited about the competition.”
Boorman said his Bulldogs gave Achieve “a gift.”
“It was not an earned goal,” he said. “It was a bad mistake by the defender, passing across the goal face and an easy tap-in, so it’s definitely something we can clean up.”
Junior Marco Campos-Huerta scored the equalizer on a free kick, his sixth of the season and 13th goal this year, from 40 yards out.
Boorman said the coaches noticed the Achieve goalie had “shaky hands” and saw an opportunity with a particular play.
“The object on that particular play was to rush the goalkeeper,” he said. “There’s multiple strategies you can do with that if you see that when you shoot the ball. The goalkeeper drops it, then you want to put the ball in the goal, because if it’s on target it goes in or the goalkeeper has to make a stop. And if he drops it, there’s going to be multiple guys at his feet to put it in. If the goalkeeper is sure-handed, then you have to go for a chip, and you have to go for a header and a placement ball. The ball was hit hard enough that the goalkeeper let it slip through his hands.”
Another Bulldog also is having a great impact.
“We have had a great bonus by having Genesis Ceron, our senior and one of our best players, join the team on Feb. 1st,” Boorman said. “Our midfield is a lot more physical, is a lot more demanding, is more high pace. And because of that, there’s a lot of turnover and a lot of — how would you say it? — it ups the intensity of our midfield. Therefore we get a lot more fouls there where the other teams haven’t attacked us to try to stop a counterattack. And so we get a lot of those, we get a lot of free kicks right around the midfield, because it’s a very simple thing. We’ll steal the ball, we’ll make one pass, and then instead of allowing our guy to dribble forward or make a through ball, they’ll nick him from a behind or take him out basically, just run their shoulder through him or kick him from behind. And that’s a typical soccer counterattack move – people do professional fouls all the time and take yellow cards just to prevent a counterattack. It’s about being up in numbers and knowing tactically where you are. So we get a lot of those, and Marco generally gets to take about 108 to 110 kicks directly on goal based upon those fouls.”
This tie comes on the heels of Burnet beating Austin Eastside 3-1 Feb. 3, Ceron’s first in the lineup. Campos-Huerta scored a goal on a free kick, while junior Ricardo Flores and sophomore Alvaro Rodriguez each scored on Campos-Huerta assists.
“We scored all three goals while (Ceron) was in, and he came out at halftime because he was cramping up as his first game back,” the coach said. “He’s a game changer. He really, really makes us a lot better, so I’m excited for the future because we have a complete midfield now with no real gaps, and I think the boys feel that.”
The “open district” refers to a change district coaches voted to implement when the University Interscholastic League added Liberty Hill Legacy Ranch to an already crowded district.
Coaches decided to divide into big school and small school divisions with a caveat. Each district member had to play each other once. But those in the big school division and those in the small school division play each other twice. The two top teams each division advance to the playoffs. The district champion will be crowned based on overall district record.
Burnet will travel to play at Jarrell (10-2-2, 5-0) with the junior varsity playing at 5 p.m. and the varsity to follow at 7 p.m. The Cougars are currently in first place.
