Burnet boys soccer continues march through district

The Burnet High School boys soccer team defeated Florence 12-2 Jan. 23 after tying Austin Eastside Memorial 2-2 Jan. 17.

In the regular season finale against Florence, Burnet prevailed 2-1.

“Last year the Buffalos were making strides during the season,” head coach Benjamin Boorman said.

Not this year thanks to Miguel Valdez, who was unstoppable. Out of his 9 shots, 6 found the back of the net. He also had 2 assists. Valdez was named the Man of the Match.

Boorman noted Valdez’s scoring is because he simply kept grinding.

“Miguel Valdez got some early chances and could not convert,” the coach said. “However, it didn’t take him long to capitalize this time. He scored five minutes into the game.” 

The Buffalos “fought back and found a through ball of their own” to tie the game. 

After that goal, the game opened up as Florence “tried to push up to score another.”

“Hector Arredondo found through ball after through ball to streaking runs from the offensive front,” Boorman said. “With the exception of a poor ball played out of the back that led to a second goal for Florence, Burnet dominated the day.”

Arredondo scored 3 goals off 5 shots and had 5 assists, while Genesis Ceron scored a goal off 2 shots and had an assist that led to him being named the Junkyard Dawg.

Marco Campos-Huerta may have had the goal of the match. His goal was scored from 85 yards out that ended up being an own goal on the Buffalos. Campos-Huerta also had an assist.

Sam Rodriguez had a goal and an assist.

This win was a far cry from what the Bulldogs experienced against Eastside Memorial.

Valdez “had a chance to get a hat trick” in the first 5 minutes of the match.

Burnet was awarded a penalty kick. Valdez’s attempt was blocked and he missed the follow-up. In addition, he missed two fast breaks on wide-open nets. But his perseverance paid off, Boorman said.

“He was able to head in a free kick from Hector Arredondo in the eighth minute,” the coach said for a 1-0 lead.

The Panthers changed their strategy to better defend the Burnet attack. Right before the half, an Eastside defender scored a goal to tie the game at 1-1.

Eastside capitalized on a corner kick deflection that was put in from 20 yards out for a 2-1 advantage.

From there, the contest took a strange turn, Boorman said.

“The game got very frustrating after that as Eastside did everything in their power to waste time,” he said. “Five different players faked injuries stopping the game. Their keeper came off the field three times himself. Our boys were clearly frustrated.”

With four minutes left in the game, Campos-Huerta “shot the ball out of a canon from 30 yards out” to tie the game 2-2. 

The Bulldogs had four yellow cards and a red on the night, while Eastside had six yellow and a red card.

“It is clear that many of the games are going to be physical and close in this district,” Boorman said. “I’m so proud of the boys for overcoming this adversity to stay undefeated in district play.”

Burnet travels to face Austin Northeast Saturday, Jan. 25, with the junior varsity playing at 9 a.m. and the varsity at 10:45 a.m. The Raiders currently sit atop of the District 25-4A standings.