On Friday night, the Rockdale Tiger soccer team saw many familiar faces when they met up with some of their old teammates in the inaugural RHS alumni game.
The evening’s match was much less formal with the scoreboard turned off, guys laughing along with their opponents and even the school’s head athletic trainer Eugene Beaver made a cameo in the game, scoring the game’s final goal to help some of his former students grab a 6-4 victory over the current Tigers after trailing 4-0 to the current roster for much of the game.
Many graduates came back for the match at Tiger Stadium, including Chris Olvera, who once scored six goals against Waco Conally in a game during the 2018-2019 season, Ethen Hughes, a top defender who just finished up his first semester at Defiance College in Ohio on a football scholarship and Brandon Hernandez, a jackof-all-trades that scored many goals as a forward with RHS before taking on responsibilities as starting goalkeeper for Rockdale the last two seasons.
“When they started playing better and started communicating it was harder to get ahold of their midfield because they were just running right through us,” said Gilberto Rodriguez, RHS head soccer coach. “I was quite surprised because not even when they played for me did they play like that.”
Although an unconventional match, the fourthyear head coach Rodriguez still saw the match as a benchmark for his young and inexperienced squad.
“In the first 20 minutes, we were very aggressive and I won’t say the alumni were out of shape, but they were a little rusty,” Rodriguez said. “But once we had a big lead, I started making changes and the other team got more confidence and we couldn’t come back. The 4-0 lead made us too comfortable.”
Rodriguez said Chris Huff and newcomer Nathan Jeter were top performers for RHS.
GOING FORWARD— With the holidays coming up, the Tigers don’t have a game this week but return to the pitch on Wednesday, Dec. 30, when they head up US 77 to take on Robinson.
RHS fell 4-1 at home last season to a Rocket team that eventually finished third in District 17-4A.
“Robinson came here and ran all over us (last year),” Rodriguez said. “Their coach is pretty technical and very smart with the plays he decides to make.
“All I can ask is that the kids go out and play hard. We have two practices before the game and I know we’ll be missing a few kids out of town for the holidays. I think that will hurt us a bit but I think that anyone for us can step up and take a spot. We just have to go out and play hard.”
DISTRICT—Wit h a roster that features many kids playing soccer for the first time, Rodriguez is primarily concerned with preparing for district play, which starts Tuesday, Jan. 26 against Hearne.
“My goal is to be ready when district starts,” he said. “That’s my mentality right now.”
LADY TIGERS— While the Tigers were having a family reunion back home, the Lady Tigers travelled westward to face Lampasas where they lost 10-0.
Like the Tigers, head coach Shirley Lozano has a young team with a lot of players new to soccer.
Even though the final score wasn’t a pretty sight to see for Rockdale fans, Lozano had compliments for her young team.
“They hustled and so they played well,” Lozano said. “We had a couple of girls step up and communicate well. So our communication was really good this game and we’re improving.
“We need to get better at clearing the ball and moving quicker with our passes.”
Marisa Odalys and Grace Avrin were top performers for the blue-and-gold according to Lozano. Like their male counterparts, the girls have the week off and resume their season on Wednesday, Dec. 30, in Robinson.
The game is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. The boys’ will follow with their match starting immediately after.
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