Not So Friendly

The University of Texas at Brownsville and Texas Southmost College men’s and women’s friendly soc-cer doubleheader started out as a love fest but ended on somewhat of a sour note.

It was a who’s who of Scorpion athletes as it seemed that the whole athletic program was in attendance at Morningside Park at one point or another to see the women drop the first game 2-1 and the men tie the Monterrrey Tec Borregos 1-1.

UTB-TSC volleyball standouts Daianarah Bracero, Talita Milsauskas and Claudia Alarcon were intro-duced at halftime of the women’s match. Junior golfer April Martinez (who just broke her own school record for the lowest round at 75 on Oct.2) sang an impressive rendition of the National Anthem before the men’s game that drew a long ovation.

Baseball coach Joel Barta and volleyball coach Marcus Young could be found in one corner comforta-bly lounging with family and friends during the men’s game. Even famed Brownsville sports historian Rene Torres made an appearance to watch the matches.

Those were the good parts of the night. The play on the field was chock-full of negativity. The women looked sluggish in the loss and played with a lack of enthusiasm that frustrated coach Nik Barjaktarevic.

“We tried some new things, and the result wasn’t as important as trying those things,” Barjaktarevic said. “The result does matter to me though, and the intensity wasn’t there. We gave away a lot of posses-sions and our play was slow. We’re not dangerous or fast enough to give away possessions that way.”

One bright spot was the return of freshman forward Mayra Solis who scored the Scorpion’s lone goal.

On the men’s side, things got ugly as the tensions between the two teams came to a head while tied late in the game.

In the 85th minute, goalkeeper Ruben Hernandez made a terrific diving save but was accidentally spiked in the ear by a Monterey Tec forward. Hernandez laid on the ground for an extended period of time before being helped off the field by UTB-TSC athletic trainer Marty Castillo.

The spikes made a deep cut in Hernadez’s ear that will need stitches to repair. Perhaps seeing their keeper being walked off the field angered the Scorpions or maybe both teams just wanted to win badly, because things got appreciably more physical during the final 10 minutes of the contest.

In fact, during the final minute there were two simultaneous collisions that turned into a bench clearing shoving match. As the horn sounded signaling the end of the game, a pair of Brownsville’s finest had to sprint into the fray at midfield to breakup the scrum.

Noticeably absent for the Scorpions were defender Dave Purser (groin, day-to-day), forward Brian Hardie (knee, one week) and midfielder Marco Malovic (knee, two weeks).

“It’s tough to play a friendly in October, but we kept our shape and it was a fine result,” Scorpion coach Dan Balaguero. “It’s a boost to play at home even in a friendly. We also get more practice, and the boys get to sleep in their own beds.”

Freshman Ricky Rodriguez (San Benito) scored the equalizer for the Scorpions in the 63rd minute to earn the tie.