Scorpions look to jump NAIA hurdle
Conquering the Red River Athletic Conference for the fourth straight time was much harder than previous years for the University of Texas at Brownsville and Texas Southmost College men's soccer team.
The Scorpions had to overcome a rash of early season injuries and a poor start to make this conference championship season an enjoyable challenge for Coach Dan Balaguero.
Ater a banner 17-0-2 season in 2009, the Scorpions were the only NAIA team that finished the season undefeated. UTB-TSC came into the season with a No. 16 ranking in the NAIA preseason coaches top 25 poll. But 2010 started very un-Scorpionlike.
"It has been a great turnaround after the early season problems," Balaguero said. "We came back from Southern Nazarene giving up a two-goal lead and with a record of 2-3-The squad was down to 19 players."
The Scorpions suffered season-ending injuries to forward De' Andre Brown, midfielder Nestor Morales, goalkeeper Zack Gorman, and minor injuries to two others.
Balaguero knew the Scorpions would rebound from the 2-3-1 start, which were all played on the road. A 4-1 win over St. Thomas of Houston sparked the start of a big run for the Scorpions.
UTB-TSC is riding a 13-game winning streak and is now 15-3-1 heading into Saturday's 6 p.m. NAIA national championship opening round game against University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma at the Brownsville Sports Park.
"So to turn it around win 13 on the bounce has been very fun," Balaguero said. "Not only does it show the quality of the players, it shows how strong they are mentally."
The Scorpions had to be mentally strong going into the nine RRAC games. Every team in the RRAC targets its game against UTB-TSC as the biggest game of the year. A win over the Scorpions would be the highlight of their seasons, because UTB-TSC has never lost to an RRAC opponent in the four years that the Scorpions have played soccer at the NAIA level. The Scorpions are 42-0 in that span.
"I think it is a truly amazing streak for a program that has only been in existence for four years to never lose a single conference game," Balaguero said. We have had some close calls, teams have given us everything and the bulls eye continues to get bigger, but the guys have found a way to come through. For the players who came in 2007, what an achievement this is for them."
The streak breakdown is as follows: 2007: 7-0 in conference games, 1-0 in non-conference, 3-0 in postseason -- 11-0; 2008: 7-0 conference, 2-0 postseason -- 9-0; 2009: 8-0 conference, 1-0 non-conference, 2-0 postseason -- 11-0; 2010: 9-0 conference, 2-0 postseason -- 11-0.
There have been numerous highlights in the season.
Senior Juan Nava from Hidalgo, who transferred to UTB-TSC as a sophomore, has tied the single-season record for goals scored with 15. Newcomer Morten Benestad from Kristiansand, Norway, led the RRAC in assists with 11 and scored game-winning goals in the RRAC tournament in 1-0 wins over Texas College and Huston-Tillotson.
Benestad's game-winning goals were scored in the same day. Because the RRAC Tournament was moved to the Brownsville Sports Park, the Scorpions started the semifinal game at 10:30 p.m. Benestad scored the game-winner against TC at 12:22 a.m. Nov. 6. He scored the game-winner against HTU at 8:40 p.m. that night.
But there is one big hurdle that the Scorpions have not been able to clear, getting to the site of the final 16 teams at the NAIA national tournament. UTB-TSC has been one step short of reaching that level in each of the first three soccer seasons.
The road to the site of the finals was different in 2007, when the NAIA divided into regions. The Scorpions won a regional quarterfinal game over Texas Wesleyan but lost in the regional semifinals at Oklahoma City.
In 2008, the NAIA changed the format and scheduled national championship opening-round games at the home fields of higher seeds, or higher-seed teams who submitted bids to host the game.
The Scorpions traveled to the University of Mobile in the 2008 opening round and lost 3-0. In the 2009 opening round game played at REK Center Field, the Scorpions hosted Biola (Calif.). After a 2-2 tie in 90 minutes of regulation and 20 minutes of overtime, penalty kicks were needed to determine which team would advance. Biola prevailed over UTB-TSC on penalty kicks, 4-3.
Now in the fourth season, the Scorpions would like nothing better than to overcome the opening-round obstacle.
The 2010 season is the final one for three Scorpions from the area who have been with Balaguero since the inception of the program -- goalkeeper Juan Gamboa and midfielders Rogelio Perez and Ricky Rodriguez.
"One of our team goals was to make it to the final site," Balaguero said. "Last year we were very unlucky to not get past the opening round. We feel that we have a great chance, but we are also aware that we are facing a very dangerous team."
The winner of Saturday's game advances to site of the final 16 teams Nov. 29 through Dec. 4 in Orange Beach, Ala.
