UTB-TSC Capsules: Scorpions triumph but lose key player to leg injury
The University of Texas at Brownsville and Texas Southmost College men’s soccer team captured a 4-0 scrimmage win over the University of Texas-Pan American club team Saturday at REK Center Field, but the victory came at a precious cost.
About 15 minutes into the match, UTB-TSC’s DeAndre Brown suffered a serious right leg injury and had to be taken from the field by ambulance to a local hospital. His condition was not immediately known.
Brown, a freshman midfielder-forward from Clarendon, Jamaica, appeared to have suffered a compound fracture of the fibula and tibia, and is likely done for the season, Scorpions coach Dan Balaguero said.
A little more than a week ago, the Scorpions’ Miguel Davila, a former Pace standout forward, suffered a similar injury that was season-ending.
"I thought we played confidently and moved the ball around well," Balaguero said. "The only thing I’m really disappointed about is the injury to DeAndre, who had the first two assists tonight.
"We’ve now had two compound fractures, a player suffer an ACL injury over the summer and another one go home, so obviously it hasn’t been the best of preseasons," Balaguero added. "We still believe that we have more than enough to be successful, but there’s only so many blows that we can take here. The injury to DeAndre really hurts."
During the early minutes of Saturday’s match, Fredrik Ekvall scored on a header for the Scorpions and teammate Jose Galvan tallied off a corner kick play for a 2-0 lead. Then Brown, a potential starter this season, went down with his injury.
There was a delay of approximately 30 minutes before Brown was taken off by ambulance to the hospital. A minute or so after the match resumed, Aron Ekberg scored on a crossing shot to give the Scorpions a 3-0 first-half advantage. During the second half, on another corner kick play, Aaron Guerrero scored from close range into the right corner of the net to complete the 4-0 victory. Also during the second half, UTB-TSC had an apparent goal by Juan Nava waved off due to an offsides call.
The Scorpions recorded the shutout with Juan Gamboa playing goalkeeper during the first half and Mauricio Lugo replacing him in the second half.
UTB-TSC was coming off last weekend’s Orange and White intrasquad match that was won by the White team 3-1.
The Scorpions return nine starters from last year’s 17-0-2 squad that repeated as Red River Athletic Conference regular-season and tournament champions while advancing to the NAIA national tournament.
The UTB-TSC men next open the season at Belhaven University on Aug. 27. The UTB-TSC women’s soccer team plays host to Texas A&M International of Laredo at 8 p.m. Sunday at REK Center Field for its final scrimmage before opening the season at home on Aug. 28 against William Carey University in the Scorpion Soccer Classic.
Roy Hess writes for Valley Freedom Newspapers. You can reach him via e-mail at rhess@brownsvilleherald.com.
Other UTB-TSC News
Scorpions sweep alumni team
Ten former members of the University of Texas at Brownsville and Texas Southmost College volleyball team got to put on Scorpion uniforms again to face the 2010 UTB-TSC Scorpions and fell short by 25-8, 25-16, 25-14 scores Saturday at Manuel Garza B. Gymnasium.
The scrimmage was the final friendly match for the Scorpions before regular season play begins Friday, Aug. 27, against Mid-American in Fort Worth.
Alumni who participated and their final seasons in Scorpions (with jersey numbers in parentheses) included: Roxie Saldivar, 1997 (14); Axle Valle, 2003 (20); Taeko Inoue Martinez, 2004 (5); Vanessa "Tita" Mata, 2004 (4); Jenny Ashley, 2007 (8); Cassie Hinojosa, 2007 (11); Vivi Lozano, 2008 (2); Katie Japp, 2009 (7); Gaby Maraboto, 2009 (13); Jenny Soto, 2009 (3)
