LG Soccer Seniors Going Out With a Bang
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LG Soccer Seniors Going Out With a Bang -
The senior members of the La Grange girls soccer team, left, and the boys soccer team, right, pose during Senior Night festivities at Leopard Stadium Monday. Photos by Jeff Wick -
La Grange senior Jeffrey Cabrera scored two goals and had two assists Monday. Photo by Jeff Wick
For the last several years, the Senior Night festivities for the La Grange soccer teams have been a sort of ending for the season.
Not this year. Monday those Seniors were honored, but the festivities were just a continuation of what has been a resurgent year for Leps and Lady Leps soccer. That success has culminated with a playoff doubleheader Thursday in Hutto for both teams. The Lady Leps, who have surged to a 15-5-2 record will play Waco Robinson (13-5) at 5:30 p.m.
That game will be followed by the La Grange boys (14-8) versus Waco La Vega (21-2) game at 7:30 p.m.
Both La Grange teams were third in district.
The La Grange girls have had their playoff spot locked up for a while, but the La Grange boys officially clinched their postseason spot in Monday’s 4-1 victory over Smithville in the regular season finale. Jeffrey Cabrera scored two goals, Dominic Villalobos and Jared Hernandez each scored one goal. Cabrera had two assists and Aldo Hernandez had two assists.
“It was our last time on this field, so it meant a lot. We’ve been playing here for so long,” said La Grange senior goalie Ramon Ortiz. “We see each other as brothers and as family.”
“It means everything to them,” La Grange boys head coach Zach Mueller said of making the postseason. “They’ve spent four years pouring into this program, offseason workouts, summer soccer, playing club ball, playing at White Rock, organizing their own practices. It’s good that we were so senior heavy, to have that leadership, and it’s good we’ve had these young guys to see what it takes to be successful.”
The La Grange girls also had a regular season finale scheduled for Monday but Smithville cancelled. Instead the Lady Leps scrimmaged a club team to warm-up for the postseason. Before the scrimmage, Lady Leps head coach Barry Donovan talked about his seniors during a pregame ceremony.
“These seniors have made a big impact on the program. They have left it in a better place than where they found it,” Donovan said. “I hope that one day, one or two of them come back and coach this soccer team. They are that good, that impactful – both on and off the field.”
Lady Leps senior players Hope Michalke Jaley Stork Samantha Castaneda Kyla Colon Trinity Yanis Miriam Lopez Kaylee Soto Leps senior players Hector Torres Nohe Maldonado Antonio Suarez Raul Mancera Jeffrey Cabrera JJ Campos Connor Amick Joe Lopez Matthew Olvera Ramon Ortiz
Senior Managers Boys Team Jose Soto Rielyn Zuniga Julie Gonzales Girls Team
Jazzmin Coleman Susi Ramirez