Two longtime rivals open the 2005 high school soccer season as Longview and Pine Tree meet in a doubleheader tonight at Lobo Stadium.

The Lady Lobos and Lady Pirates play at 5:30, followed by the Lobos and Pirates at 7 o'clock.

The school's JV teams squared off Monday at Pine Tree Stadium.

Pine Tree's bar of success has certainly been raised following the program's first-ever trip to the state tournament. However, the Pirates also open the season under new head coach Andre Lo.

A fixture in Longview's youth soccer program for many years, Lo comes to Pine Tree from district rival Hallsville. Tom Wait, who guided the Pirates for eight seasons, left after last season to become the men's head coach at LeTourneau University.

Lo takes over a program that won district in 2004, captured the Region II championship and was a state semifinalist, while posting a 24-7 record. The Pirates return All-East Texas newcomer of the year Tony Guillen, who scored seven goals and had 11 assists playing at a midfield position.

Longview's boys were 14-5 a year ago, making its second straight postseason appearance under head coach James Wright, who is 29-14-1 during that span. The Lobos were area finalist in 2004, and were regional quarterfinalist in 2003.

The Lobos return two All-East Texas players in forward Jose Lopez and defender Bryce Lippitz.

Lopez led in the team in goals in 2004 with 16, tying him for sixth place all-time with J.C. Surber (2003) for goals in a single season.

A key change will be in goal, where Willie Cloyd replaces Will Briley, a four-year starter and record holder who graduated last spring and is at Northwestern University on a soccer scholarship.

Pine Tree leads the overall series record between the two schools 16-13-4. However, the Lobos won last year's match at Pine Tree Stadium 3-1.

The Lady Lobos are coming off the program's first district championship, where they posted a season slate of 17-5-4. Graduation did hit the team hard. They do return All-East Texas newcomer of the year Lyndsey Womack, who tied a school single-season record in 2004 with 18 goals. She also contributed 13 assists.

Back for Pine Tree are All-East Texas midfielders Jaclyn Friday and Stephanie Casto. Friday led the team in assists last season with 21, along with scoring 11 goals. Castro had 10 goals and 14 assists. The Lady Pirates were district runners-up with a 17-8-2 record in 2004.

The Lady Pirates and Lady Lobos split a pair of games last season. Pine Tree won 2-1 in the season opener, while Longview later returned the favor with a 3-2 victory during the Lady Buc Invitational.