Published: March 17, 2008 02:21 pm            

Roos drop district contest to Burleson on Senior Night

In what turned out to be a very physical game Friday, against a Burleson team that the Kangaroos had defeated earlier this season, Weatherford fell behind early and never recovered, losing 3-1 in a District 4-5A soccer match.

A goal less than three minutes into the contest by Burleson’s Nick Oliver kept the Roos on their heels for the first 20 minutes of the opening half. Though a failed attempt, Weatherford’s Tony Koenig broke through and sent a shot toward the goal that was stopped by the Burleson keeper. The incursion sparked the Roos play as they were more successful at keeping the Elks from camping in Weatherford’s end of the field.

Several opportunities arose in the period for Weatherford to get into the net, but the shots were off the mark or the Elks were able to clear the ball.

“I think that this [represents] kind of how our season has gone,” said Weatherford head coach Efren Martinez, when asked about the several scoring opportunities in the game. “We’ve had so many opportunities this season and just cannot finish, and a lot of that has to do with our youth, to be honest.

“Tonight is Senior Night and we only had five seniors [honored]. I have six or seven sophomores that are starting, so it is really a young team.”

Burleson was able to put another shot into the net 10:40 into the half when a kick came in from the corner. Weatherford goalkeeper Edgar Santibantes was bracketed by two Burleson players. The keeper’s attempt to prevent the feed back to the middle fell just short and Kendall Rockers put the Elks up 2-0.

Less than a minute after the first yellow card was issued to a Burleson player, Weatherford’s Stephen Crisco found teammate Eric Reeves, who then found the net with 7:50 left before the break, pulling the Roos within a goal. It would be the only Roos goal of the night.

Martinez acknowledges the need to improve the offensive production to get over the hump in the close games.

“When I played [at Weatherford], I was an offensive player and am offensive minded,” Martinez said. “And the thing that does excite me about our youth is that I can teach them how to finish. I look forward to [doing that].

“Last week we had our best offensive game, and it was the highest scoring game in this district for the year. There were nine goals in the first half and we were just down 5-4. But sometimes we showed up and sometimes we didn’t and that’s the youth and inexperience. We’re both learning. The kids are learning from me and I’m still learning more about them.”

The second half saw the opportunities continue for the Roos as they scrapped with Burleson, but failed to penetrate the net. The play was increasingly physical, as another yellow card and finally, a red card was issued, as well as a Burleson player having to leave the game due to injury.

Burleson’s Edward Rockers provided the “wow” shot of the night, spearing a header into the Weatherford goal off the foot of teammate Kody Cross.

Weatherford plays its final game of the season Tuesday, at North Crowley. Though disappointed that the team’s record is not what he wanted this year, particularly for his departing players, Martinez recognizes the inevitability of developing a program.

“It takes time for things to gel,” Martinez said. “I’m getting used to [the boys] and they’re getting used to me. I’ve told them I love each and every one of them like brothers and they’ve grown on me. I hate seeing the seniors go and have apologized to them for the way the season has gone, but again, we are just so young.

“It will take one or two years [to get better competitively]. This is kind of a rebuilding year for us, as they say. Every team goes through [the rebuilding] process, even the good ones. We went through it at Granbury, where I was before coming here.”

The Kangaroos 5-10 in district play, have enjoyed some success this year, though experiencing a rough start to the year.

“The good streaks we’ve had this year have been positive,” Martinez said. “The kids have played their hearts out and getting those streaks has been a good thing.

“Attitudes change, because [early on] the kids were like, ‘Wow, when are we going to win a game?’ I told them that the wins would come and we just have to keep playing hard.

“And they did [win]. With a new coach and a new team, in that I had only four returning players from last year, and in this district, we won five in a row. We’re just young and we’ll keep getting better.”

        

• Click to discuss this story with other readers on our forums.