Things were tough for the Rockdale boys’ soccer team when they travelled 84 miles east to Madisonville this past weekend for their first tournament of the season. In a bracket that consisted of mostly Class 5A and 6A schools, the Blueand-Gold fell 5-0 to Lake Belton, 5-0 to Splendora and 3-0 in their tourney finale to Montgomery. Despite the outcomes, head coach Gilberto Rodriguez was by-andlarge pleased with how his team did. “It went great in the sense that kids learned a lot over the course of those three games.” he said. In their first match against Lake Belton, Rodriguez said he left the tournament wondering what he got his team into after the 5-0 defeat.
“I think we knew that Lake Belton was all freshmen and sophomores so I don’t think we woke up until they got ahead 3-0,” he said. “But it was frustrating.” On the second day, Rodriguez saw improvements against Splendora, a team that made it to the third round of the Class 4A playoffs last season. “I feel like that game was where we started playing better.” he said. By the third game with Montgomery, Rodriguez said his team was hustling and getting to the spots they needed to be on the field, which seemed a world away from where they were on Thursday against Lake Belton.
“It was a good game too,” he said. “We had our chances.”
THIS WEEK—T h e Tigers travelled to Waco Conally on Tuesday after press time where they took down the Cadets 1-0.
Jorge Salazar scored the deciding goal.
RHS is off on Friday but returns to Tiger Stadium for play on Tuesday against Florence.
They have one more non-district game with Madisonville three days later before they begin play against Hearne on Tuesday, Jan. 26.
In the meantime, Rodriguez wants his team to “find their game”.
“These games coming up will be crucial.” he said.
Game time against the Buffaloes next Tuesday is 7:30 p.m.
LADY TIGERS— Before the boys’ game, the Lady Tigers fell to Conal-ly 5-0.
While the Tigers are off, it’s the Lady Tigers’ turn to make the trek to Madisonville where they will play in their tournament.
Unlike the guys, they don’t begin district play until Tuesday, Feb. 6, when they head to Giddings.
Between now and then, they will host Florence this Tuesday, play in another tournament across the rive in Cameron three days after that and then host Class 4A Needville on Tuesday, Jan. 26, in their non-district finale.
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