KFDM COOP Posted January 31, 2008 Report Posted January 31, 2008 21-5A soccer race gets started By Michael Pineda Baytown Sun Published February 1, 2008 The wind is blowing and the sky is pouring, so it must be soccer season. Tonight, the Lee and Sterling soccer teams will begin their pursuit of the playoffs as they open District 21-5A competition. The mudders will be out in force at Sultis Memorial Stadium as the Ganders take on defending district champion Kingwood at 6 p.m. The Lady Ganders will be on the road to take on Kingwood, while the Sterling girls will open district at home against Humble and the Sterling boys will play at Humble. The last time that the Kingwood boys dropped a district match was two years ago, when Lee defeated the Mustangs in a shootout. The last two matches have not gone as well for the Ganders as they have been blown out in both. The task will once again be uphill for Lee, as they will enter the game without three starters. Benito Huerta and Aaron Rodriguez drew red cards against La Porte and Octavio Torres drew a soft red (two yellow cards) in a game that saw six La Porte players also ejected. The Ganders (3-2) will not play a junior varsity game and will bring up three off that team, including Alex Morfin who has scored two consecutive game winners. Lee will also lean on Luis Camacho, who has scored four goals in the last two games. “We have won three games in a row,†coach Criss Dippel said. “What’s encouraging it that we’re still young. A few of the guys are timid and as physical as Kingwood is, we can’t be timid.†The Sterling boys are 2-4-1 entering district but that’s deceiving as most of their games have gone down to the wire. The defense has been stronger than head coach Jim Richter expected and the offense has been able to develop scoring opportunities. The key for Sterling in district will be to convert those opportunities in a much-improved 21-5A. “Kingwood will be Kingwood and everybody else will be pretty much even,†Richter said. “This year, more than any other, you are going to have to have to come and play every night. “Humble is going to be physical and always has pretty good players. I am really happy that we played well in our last game against Pearland (1-0 loss), but the bottom line is we are going to have to score.†The Lady Ganders will have a big task set out for them as they open district against Kingwood. Lee is 1-7 on the season. “We’ll have certain goals for this game,†Lee head coach Jay Langlois said. “We want to do a better job of holding them off as long as we can. “Generally after they scored the first goal it is ‘Here we go again’ and we want to stay away from that syndrome. A positive result for us may not be reflected in the final score.†The Sterling girls have a much easier road in their opener as they take on Humble. The Lady Wildcats have struggled early in the year, dropping games to the tune of 9-0 and 10-0 while Sterling has finally gotten some games under its belt and has begun to come together. The Lady Rangers, 4-3-1, had a strong showing in the North Shore tournament and followed up with a win over South Houston Monday. “We have really been playing good,†Sterling head coach Rusty Mathews said. “I think we will be all right. We have had three good days of practice and we have gotten over some injuries. “The girls have really been looking forward to this.â€
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