This year was the 15th annual Bear Cave Classic. Our school put on the “Bear Cave Classic” tournament which consists of teams from around the district coming and playing at the high school.
Throughout this season, the soccer boys have pulled through with some great wins and this tournament was no exception. The boys left the tournament undefeated, finishing their fourth and final game 2-2 winning in penalty shots.
“Lupe scored the goal to tie the game 2-2 and our keeper Edgar Cardona won us the penalty shootout,” senior player Cris Rios said.
It takes teamwork to succeed in a competitive tournament, but individual athleticism is necessary to come out with a victory like this.
“Luis Solís was the rock of our defense, he played through a sickness and ended up being injured but he let it all out on the field in the championship game and leading up to it,” Rios said.
Through cold temperatures and various setbacks, the boys were able to pull through with 4 consecutive wins.
“There were two key components to our wins in my opinion,” senior Francisco Diaz said. “One of those key moments was the first goal of the tournament scored by Brandon Gutierrez. The other key moment was my goal against Castleberry. This goal tied the game 1 to 1 when we were struggling to find ways to attack. This goal also gave us the momentum we needed to win the game.”
The team has experienced a lot this season, one major difference being a change in leadership.This is Head Coach Rafael Franco’s first year coaching at Brewer.
“We’re still trying to build a relationship between the coach and us and make it stronger but he makes it a vital point that we have an opinion on how we want to play each game so everybody feels comfortable and we can play our best,” Rios said.
Coach Franco has more than proven he is qualified for the head coaching title.
“He always makes sure we work hard and pushes us to get better every single day,” Diaz said.
Winning didn’t come easy, they worked hard to be undefeated. The varsity soccer team practices Monday through Friday.
“We usually meet in the weight room on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays at 6 am. After that we normally run for about 20 minutes. On game days we just go over our corners, free kicks and penalties,” Diaz said.
The team takes little to no days off. They are constantly doing whatever they can to better their game.
“Winning felt good, all the practices and cold mornings paid off, but we instantly just looked to start district games with a bang,” Cris Rios said.