Within Reach: Juarez-Lincoln one win away from return to state

5 days ago 22

LA JOYA — La Joya Juarez-Lincoln’s boys soccer team isn’t used to being viewed as the underdog. Since 2017, the Huskies have entered the playoffs as district champs, raising postseason expectations and painting a target on their backs.

This season has been completely different.

For the first time since 2016, Juarez-Lincoln didn’t finish at the top of its district’s table, ending the year in fourth place in District 30-5A. After a “down” regular season, few outside the Huskies’ locker room expected a deep playoff run.

Juarez-Lincoln has proved the doubters wrong, however, taking down Cedar Park in a Region IV-5A DII semifinal to become the Valley’s last team standing in Class 5A and 6A this season.

The win advanced the Huskies to the Region IV-5A DII final, their third regional final appearance in program history. They’ll take on Liberty Hill for a spot in the Final Four at 6 p.m. today at Comalander Stadium n San Antonio.

“We had a good run of eight district championships straight,” Juarez-Lincoln head coach Victor Ramos said. “It was a wakeup call not winning this year. We saw that we had to work harder and be more disciplined. Sometimes when you’re winning and winning, you don’t see a lot of aspects of improvement. That is what helped us this year. It was a wakeup call, but at the same time it gave us the opportunity to work harder and improve.”

The 2025 regular season provided several obstacles for Ramos’ squad. Apart from losing several key starters to graduation, the Huskies also lost roughly six varsity players throughout the regular season due to various reasons.

The constant reshuffling in the lineup led to struggles during district play, finishing with a 9-3-4 record.

After seeing their streak of eight straight district titles snapped, something switched on the field for the Huskies.

Juarez-Lincoln used its fourth-place finish as motivation for the postseason and also felt a sense of relief from the pressure of trying to maintain that level of success.

“I think it took the pressure off us, especially the coaches,” Ramos said. “It was a relief. It is a lot of pressure. You have a long run like that, and you want to keep it going. … It was a lot of pressure out the window. We started playing better, and you could see it in the playoffs. We had that pressure until the last game because we still had a chance to win district. I think not winning helped a lot.”

The new mindset was evident during the Huskies’ practice leading up to their bi-district match against Corpus Christi Carroll, Ramos said, with the team playing looser and more comfortable.

The mentality translated into a dominating 3-0 win against the Tigers in the opening round, securing their fourth straight first round playoff win.

Up next for the Huskies was a date with perennial RGV powerhouse Brownsville Porter. Despite trailing 1-0 with roughly 10 minutes remaining, Juarez-Lincoln found a way to win, scoring three goals during the final minutes of regulation to come away with a 3-1 win.

“During the regular season we were united, but the playoffs have been something different,” Juarez-Lincoln midfielder Christian Torres said. “We want this more. Yeah, we wanted district, but that didn’t happen. We want this championship more, though. We had eight years straight winning district. Not winning it woke us up but also allowed us to play freer.”

Following their win against the Cowboys, the Huskies turned their attention to a Region IV-5A DII semifinal match against Cedar Park.

Once again, Juarez-Lincoln found itself in a 1-0 hole during the second half and once against the Huskies rallied, scoring the game’s last two goals to take down the Timberwolves 2-1 and get past the third round for the first time since 2018.

“We learned a lot these past two rounds,” Juarez-Lincoln midfielder Eduardo Ramos said. “Yeah, we were down 1-0, but we saw clearly we could win. We knew we could improve and play much better, and we did.”

This year’s Huskies squad doesn’t feature a prolific scorer like year’s past, with seven different players scoring multiple goals during district play. Senior Jovany Martinez paced Juarez-Lincoln with 11 goals during district play, adding another two through the first two playoff games.

Junior Steven Hernandez ranked second on the team during district play with nine. Senior midfielder Eduardo Ramos added six during district play and led the team during the postseason with three.

Defensively, the Huskies have been stout all season long, allowing just 16 goals in 16 district games and holding their three postseason opponents to a combined two goals.

“Whenever you start changing things it is difficult to get together and be on the same page,” Ramos said. “Playing the same kids helps in understanding what we need to do at each position. That is what this team has done. That is why we’re playing like this at this point.”

The Huskies know getting to the Class 5A DII semifinals won’t be an easy task. The Liberty Hill squad standing in their way is fresh off a 2-0 win over a Brownsville Lopez team that was heavily favorited to win it all this year.

The Panthers’ win over the Lobos likely makes them favorites over the Huskies for many across the state.

None of that matters, however, with the Huskies embracing the underdog role as they search for their second state semifinal appearance in program history.

“We’ve worked hard for this,” Martinez said. “It wasn’t a good regular season. We lost a lot of games by our standard. So, we’re going to fight for that Final Four spot. We haven’t been there since 2017. We’re going to keep working hard and fight for what we want, which is a state title.”

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