Burnet boys soccer are on winning streak
The Burnet High School boys soccer team is third in the District 25-4A standings after winning back-to-back matches.
The Bulldogs (7-6-1, 6-3-1) defeated Austin Eastside Memorial 3-2 Feb. 17 and Austin Travis 7-0 Feb. 14.
Against Eastside, Miguel Valdez opened the scoring after stealing a switched ball for a 1-0 advantage.
Eastside scored five minutes later on an “excellent play by the left winger” to tie the game at 1-1 at the half.
The Panthers scored first in the second half “on a perfectly placed shot in the upper 90 from 30 yards out,” Burnet head coach Benjamin Boorman said, which forced the Bulldogs to adjust.
Minutes later, Ricardo Flores was fouled about 40 yards from goal and Marco Campos-Huerta put it in with his canon for a leg, the coach said.
With 10 minutes left in the game, Burnet was awarded a corner kick that “sailed over everyone’s head” but Flores, who found Campos-Huerta from 30 yards out. Campos-Huerta shot the ball directly over the keeper’s head, striking the cross bar and going in the goal.
Burnet received a second yellow card that forced the Bulldogs to play 10 players on 11 in the final five minutes of the contest.
Eastside got one last opportunity, Boorman said. A “header” struck the post and missed the goal as time expired.
Campos-Huerta was named the Man of the Match and Rigo Valdez was named the Junkyard Dawg.
Boorman noted this match had “lots of cards on both teams and many injury timeouts,” much like the first time the two met.
“(That first) game was full of drama,” he said. “This game was no different.”
Travis had held the Bulldogs to one goal the first time the two teams played. But not in the rematch thanks to Hector Arrendondo, who had 2 goals and 3 assists. Genesis Ceron scored 2 goals, while Valdez scored 2 goals and had 2 assists. Cleto Leon had a goal and an assist and Campos finished with an assist.
One of Valdez’s goal was a bicycle kick.
Nathan Burrell was named the Man of the Match and Jose Rios-Rodriguez was named the Junkyard Dawg.
The Bulldogs travel to face Florence Friday, Feb. 21, with the junior varsity playing at 5 p.m. and the varsity to follow.
