MISSION — Stopping Valley View’s Pablo Torre on the soccer pitch is a difficult task. The Tigers star forward is usually surrounded by two to three defenders during games.
During Friday’s District 31-5A opener, the Sharyland High Rattlers deployed a similar strategy, doing their best to contain the last season’s Valley’s leading scorer.
For 27 minutes the Rattlers succeeded, keeping the ball out of Torre’s possession. Torre found his opportunity during the 28th minute, slipping past the Rattlers’ defense and taking the ball deep into enemy territory before scoring the go-ahead goal.
Torre’s score flipped the momentum, giving the Tigers their first lead and sparking a run of three goals during the final 12 minutes of the first half, as Valley View routed Sharyland High 4-2 at Richard Thompson Stadium.
“At first, my head was lost,” Torre said. “But I thought about my team. I wanted to make that goal for my team. I thought about what coach (Damian) Magallan says about being hot and cold. Thankfully, I was able to get that goal.”
While Torre serves as the team’s main offensive threat, the Tigers are far from a one-man team, with Diego Ontiveros and Ever Arredondo each scoring goals, including a brace by Ontiveros. Peter Yanez nearly became the fourth Valley View player to score, but an offsides call negated his goal during the final seconds of regulation.
Torre’s trust in his teammates is a key to their offensive success, Valley View head coach Gerardo Salazar said, learning to let the ball go and wait for his opportunities.
“We’ve talked about it with him (Torre),” Salazar said. “Pablo is a captain. He told the guys, if there’s two to three guys on him, he’s going to let the ball go to them. There is more trust. He trusts them and the guys know they have to step up when he’s stopped. Still, you can hold him, but you can’t stop him.”
The Rattlers jumped out to a 1-0 lead during the first 20 seconds of the game, with Randy Mares putting the ball in the back of the net off an assist from William Jimenez.
After shutting out the Tigers for the first 20 minutes behind three saves from goalkeeper Marte De Alejandro, Valley View got on the board during the 21st minute off a header from Ontiveros.
Torre’s goal during the 28th minute changed the course of the game, with Arredondo adding to the lead during the 36th minute, followed by another header by Ontiveros moments later.
The Rattlers battled back during the second half, cutting the deficit to two off a penalty kick from Jose Sanchez, but that’s as close as they got as the Tigers opened their district title defense with a 4-2 victory.
“I’m happy with my team,” Torre said. “We’ve been working hard these past two weeks for this. We knew it wasn’t going to be easy. But thank God we were able to get the win. I had confidence in my team. We knew after the first goal in the first minute we had a lot of time to change things. We worked hard and we got the win.”
The Tigers (5-2-2, 1-0-0) continue their district title defense Tuesday, hosting the McAllen Rowe Warriors at Tiger Stadium in Pharr. Meanwhile, the Rattlers (3-2-3, 0-1-0) take on the McAllen Memorial Mustangs on Tuesday at Boxer Hernandez Stadium in McAllen.
