Original Article on Longview News-Journal Website

Local soccer squads compete in tourneys

|By BOB WARD|

Thursday, January 13, 2005

Fresh off their season debuts on Tuesday, all four soccer teams at Longview and Pine Tree will be involved in tournaments over the next three days.

The Lady Lobo Invitational begins today at Lobo Stadium with both the Lady Lobos and Lady Pirates participating. The Lobos travel to Carrollton for the 2005 Go-to-Goal Tournament, while the Pirates will be competing in the 5th Annual Omni-America Kick-Off Classic'' in North Richland Hills.

Today's Lady Lobo Invitational has four games scheduled in an eight-team format. The Lady Lobos and Kilgore meet at 1:30 p.m., followed by Pine Tree and Whitehouse at 3:30, Nacogdoches and Jacksonville at 5:30, and Henderson and Lufkin at 7:30.

It's very important for us that we get started out on the right foot,'' said Longview head coach Chris Yode. It ought to be a little stronger that what I first thought in putting this thing together. The teams around here are just getting better.''

The Lady Lobos and Lady Pirates opened the season Tuesday at Lobo Stadium, with Pine Tree capturing a 3-2 victory. The Lady Pirates got a pair of goals from Stephanie Casto, and one by Ashley Johnson. Lyndsey Womack and Mattie Witherspoon each scored for Longview.

I happy with our effort,'' Yoder said. Everyone gave 100 percent. I was just proud of how they played they each stepped up.''

The Longview-Kilgore winner will face either Nacogdoches or Jacksonville on Friday at 7:30 p.m., which will be preceded the PT-Whitehouse and Henderson-Lufkin winners at 5:30. The championship is set for Saturday at 5 p.m.

The Lobos will compete in a 22-team classic format. They take on Midland today at 6 p.m., then play Amarillo Friday at 6 p.m. and Dallas Sunset on Saturday at 11 a.m. All three matches will take place at Good Park in Carrollton.

Longview is coming off a 2-1 season-opening victory over Pine Tree on Tuesday at Lobo Stadium. The Lobos got goals from Fermin Rodriguez and Jose Lopez, while Tony Guillen scored for the Pirates.

Pine Tree opens the Kick-Off Classic'' today against Saginaw Boswell at 3:45 p.m. The match will be played at Birdville High School. The Pirates are competing in the Green Bracket.

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