Marble Falls boys soccer ranked No. 1 in region

The Marble Falls High School boys soccer team got an unexpected gift on New Year’s Day.

The Mustangs are ranked No. 1 in Class 4A Region IV by Lethal Enforcer, considered the No. 1 source for Texas high school soccer. They have been ranked in the top 5 several times, but this is the first time they are No. 1.

“It’s an honor that people across the state recognize our program as being one of the better ones,” head coach Rick Hoover said.

Still, he added, take the ranking for what it is.

“We haven’t played enough games to earn that distinction,” the coach said. “It’s too early in the year to get that much credence.”

Marble Falls beat Del Valle 2-1 Dec. 18 in its only contest of the season so far and the Mustangs performed well in their scrimmages against Round Rock Stony Point and Pflugerville.

“Stony Point is a top 15 Class 6A team that we played very, very competitive,” Hoover said. “We lost to them. Del Valle is a top 20 team in the region. We played two really good, quality teams.”

Another element that favors Marble Falls is the number of returning starters that are back from last year – eight of 11 to be exact.

“That’s a big number,” Hoover said.

He noted it’s too early to compare this team to some of the others, particularly those that have won at least two playoff matches in a season. The 2018 team, which recorded the best finish in program history, reached the Class 5A Region IV tournament where it lost to Pharr Valley View 6-0 in the semifinals. Valley View lost to eventual state champion Frisco Lakeland 3-1 in the state semifinals.

The 2019 Mustangs lost in the third round of the playoffs to District 25-5A rival Cedar Park in penalty kicks in the third round of the playoffs. The two teams split the regular season series 1-1.

Hoover’s point is there are events that factor into a season that are beyond the control of a team that determine the outcome of a season. That was the case during the 2-1 loss to two-time defending state champion Boerne in the third round of the playoffs last year.

“There’s bad luck,” he said. “I feel like last year was a state tournament team. But against Boerne, we had three starters out with injuries. There’s always three or four teams that are good enough (from the same region) to make it to (the) state (tournament) who can make it through the playoffs without having that stretch of bad luck.”

The state rankings will be released next week, Hoover said.

The Mustangs are participating in the Governor’s Cup hosted by Georgetown Independent School District Thursday-Saturday, Jan. 4-6. Marble Falls faces Lake Belton at 2:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 4, at East View High School, Pflugerville Hendrickson at 6:10 p.m. Friday, Jan. 5, at Georgetown High School’s second stadium, and Bastrop at 2:30 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 6, at Birkelbach Stadium.

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