Marble Falls ends the June soccer league as the runner-up
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The Marble Falls summer league team includes Julian Campos (left), Seth Parker, Diego Mata, Drake Taylor, Miley Bolanos, Cali Brydon, Briseah Rivera, Giselle Hernandez, Esteban Dominguez Rigo Lopez, Presley Kahl, Raul Roman, Marco Almanzan, William Guzman, Brandon Guevara, Angel Mejia and Jett Marcum. Photo by Martelle Luedecke/Luedecke Photography
The Marble Falls High School soccer program finished the June Summer League in second place after losing to Burnet in the championship june 26.
The league, which was played in Marble Falls in 2022, consisted of three teams from Burnet, three from Lampasas, two from Marble Falls and one from Florence.
Lady Mustangs head coach Abigail Blunt was happy to see the Mustangs and Lady Mustangs perform well during the co-ed league that was played each Monday in June.
“I think it’s great,” she said. “Anytime our kids can touch a ball, it benefits everyone.”
This year’s league site was Bulldog Field in Burnet with Lady Dawgs head coach Kimberly Myhre servine as league director. Blunt acted in the same capacity last summer. Scheduling conflicts prevented Marble Falls from hosting, and Burnet offered to take the reins, which helped the programs.
League rules stipulated that at least three girls were on the field for each squad. Contests were played on fields that are 50 yards long. That allowed two games to be played at the same time.
Myhre used records from the first three weeks of the season to seed each team for the single-elimination tournament June 26. Marble Falls one received the No. 1 seed and bye since the league had nine teams. Burnet one was the tournament champions. Blunt said she purposely had “two larger teams” to ensure there weren’t forfeits because there weren’t enough athletes playing.
“These kids are in and out because of vacations and camps,” she said. “I kept it as two teams so if anyone missed, it wasn’t a big deal. Playing with the boys, it was awesome.”
One reason for the league’s creation, the coach said, is to allow Burnet County athletes to play without paying higher fees often associated with select soccer. This league is more in line with the economics of families living here.
“Soccer is more affordable, it’s relatively easy to travel, you’re not committing hours of practice, it’s low cost,” Blunt said. “They can play the game they love. It’s a dedication to be out in that heat.”
Many of the Lady Mustangs are underclassmen, and Myhre said she could see the improvement from the beginning of the 2023 high school season in January to the end of June in the same calendar year.
Blunt agreed
“We do have a young group, but that’s part of it,” she said. “I had a bunch of freshmen contributing. They had to step it up. The younger group didn’t have a lot of experience, but they battled. They know the expectations and how it’s played. They’re mentally prepared for that and how to make it better. The kids played and experienced it. It was great.”
During the high school season, the Lady Mustangs also finished as the District 25-4A runners-up, behind Burnet, which won the district crown. The Mustangs won the district title, while the Bulldogs finished as the fourth-place team. All four advanced to the Class 4A playoffs.
The results of the summer continue to show what the Marble Falls soccer programs can do, and Blunt remains encouraged by the results. And she still believes better things are ahead.
“The program itself hadn’t been to the playoffs in a long time,” she said of the Lady Mustangs. “They got to experience a playoff game. Now that they got to experience that, they want more, they want to do better. They’re hungry. Now we believe. This summer let them put in the work and do what they love and play with friends.”
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