SUPER CENTEX BOYS' SOCCER: Strong finish for University stalwart Escobedo

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SUPER CENTEX BOYS' SOCCER: Strong finish for University stalwart Escobedo

By Will Parchman
Tribune-Herald staff writer

Sunday April 24, 2011

As Mike Chapman searches his memory for goals that stand out from Dan Escobedo’s illustrious three-year varsity career with University, no one strike comes to mind.

It’s a tribute to Escobedo’s longevity that the University boys’ soccer coach can’t come up with a standout. There are simply too many.

“As many important goals that he’s scored in his three years, he’s just always been there and has always been scoring,” Chapman said. “I guess we just have kind of grown accustomed to it.”

Dan Escobedo is the Super Centex Player of the Year.
Duane A. Laverty / Waco Tribune-Herald

For his seemingly never-ending goal-scoring, Escobedo is this year’s Super Centex Player of the Year.

“It’s a good feeling,” Escobedo said. “I didn’t expect it. All these years, I never thought I would get it. It feels good.”

Escobedo scored 62 goals in the last two years and 32 this year alone.

Among them was the tying goal in a playoff game against Brenham last year and a two-goal performance in a 3-1 win over Palestine in the sectional round this year.

Then there was Escobedo’s personal favorite. His final goal came in his final game, a dissatisfying 2-1 defeat against Waller that ushered University out of the playoffs in the regional quarterfinals and ended Escobedo’s high school career.

That day was his birthday.

“That will be a memorable goal,” Escobedo said. “We were giving effort, too, but I guess the other team just wanted it the most.”

Believe it or not, Chapman constantly had to rein in Escobedo’s pass-first instincts to get him looking to goal more often.

“Sometimes if I couldn’t find the goal, I’d want to give the assist to my teammates,” Escobedo said. “As long as we get the goal. But if I have a shot, I’ll take it.”

“I was always a forward, always,” he added. “I love to score goals.”

Escobedo’s exploits on the field were often jaw-dropping highlight-reel-worthy passes to set up teammates, not just the lead hammer strikes that became his calling card.

“He’s very talented, but he’s kind of got a knack for the ball and scoring too,” Chapman said. “He hustles, he gets to the ball and he’s got a great shot. That really helps him. He’s just one of those who’s got a knack to get to the ball.”

Escobedo grew up with what is now University’s talent-rich senior class, most of whom were called up to varsity in their sophomore year.

Typically, with the raft of talent Chapman has at his disposal, players aren’t called up until their junior year.

Escobedo was a vehement exception, right up until his last goal in his last game.

“He’s right up there with our best,” Chapman said. “He’s right up there with all of our great ones.”

Coach of the Year: Kris Kahler, Waco High

As a Waco lifer, Kris Kahler had a front seat for some of the darker times in Waco High’s soccer history.

Oh how times have changed. Kahler isn’t in the front seat anymore. He’s driving the bus.

“We were 5A, we had no business playing with those 5A schools,” Kahler said. “Soccer really wasn’t anything and football was everything. Now soccer is doing a great job. It’s a lot of fun.”

For turning around Waco High soccer and imparting a win-first attitude, Kahler is this year’s Super Centex Coach of the Year.

Kahler’s initial job was not an easy one. The Lions were blessed with some talent, but the program had been beaten down after years of abuse in Class 5A.

Waco High had made just one playoff appearance at the state’s highest classification, but the confluence of two events led to Waco High’s rise: Kahler’s arrival four years ago and the school’s drop to 4A.

Game on. Waco High has been to the playoffs as a 4A school every year since.

This past year was the most fruitful of them all, despite an uncertain beginning.

“I thought we might, maybe have a chance of doing something,” Kahler said. “But never once did I think we would go this far.”

The Lions were second in District 33-4A — their highest district finish ever — and reached the regional semifinals, the best playoff run in school history.

It took Kahler a second to digest the fact that a team that rarely used to make the playoffs had just finished off a regional tournament run.

Perhaps improbably, the Lions were the last boys’ team in the area standing, outlasting the likes of state-ranked University and Midway.

“I told them (in the regional semifinal), this could be our last 80 minutes or our last 100 minutes,” Kahler said. “We kind of rode that mentality up until the last game.

In addition to raising the Lions’ profile on the field, Kahler raised it in the school halls as well.

“We do a lot of fundraising advertisement,” Kahler said. “We sell T-shirts, stuff like that, try to let the kids know who we are.”

One of the defining points of the season came in a 2-1 win over Midway in the sectional playoff round.

Midway had often played big brother to Waco High over the years, but Kahler’s Lions have flipped the script, making the rivalry as fierce as ever over the last few meetings.

But that wasn’t a surprise to Kahler. He’s been rewriting an entirely new script since he got to Waco High.

“I didn’t know what my expectations were,” Kahler said. “You lose 14 seniors ... it just kind of makes you realize, season to season, enjoy those rides while you can.”

Newcomer of the Year: Leo Peralta, Midway

Leo Peralta is from Fray Bentos, Uruguay, a port town on the wide expanse of the Uruguay River in the interior core of the country. About 23,000 people call it home.

As of last June, Peralta was no longer one of them.

“I came for a future,” Peralta said through a translator.

With a resounding 27 goals and a confidence on possession that belies his age and his newcomer status — both at Midway and in the United States — Peralta is this year’s Super Centex Newcomer of the Year.

Peralta began his American journey on June 19 in Waco with two purposes in mind: to make his own path and to reunite with his father, who lives in Waco.

Once stateside, Peralta immediately sought out avenues to continue playing the sport he’s played since he was 4.

No surprises there. Uruguay’s soccer fervor is legendary. The country hosted and won the first-ever World Cup in 1930.

With the help of a year’s worth of Midway ESL (English as a Second Language) classes, Peralta’s tongue no longer trips over English as much as it once did.

Peralta’s fluency on the field never required translation.

“Soccer is soccer,” Peralta said with a smile and a shrug.

The game slowed down for Peralta this year, as he filled any position needed just to get on the field.

But it became obvious to Midway coach Tim O’Leary that he was most valuable in the attacking third.

As he adjusted to the speed of the game — which he says is a mite slower than Uruguayan leagues he’s used to — Peralta bombed opposing goals.

He even put in two goals in the playoffs, the last of which required a tremendous bit of skill to tie Waco High in the sectional round.

“My first impression was that (Midway) was a good team and that they had some really good players,” Peralta said. “I felt comfortable playing with them. I felt like I fit.”

wparchman@wacotrib.com

757-5711

2011 SUPER CENTEX BOYS’ SOCCER TEAM

Player of the Year: Dan Escobedo, University

Newcomer of the Year: Leo Peralta, Midway

Coach of the Year: Kris Kahler, Waco High

Pos	Player	Class	School
FIRST TEAM
F	Tayron Martin	Sr	Belton
F	Tyler Pate	Sr	Belton
F	Dan Escobedo	Sr	University
MF	Brandon Disney	Sr	Midway
MF	Kevin Potts	Sr	Midway
MF	Jorge Deleon	Sr	University
MF	Jose Jaimes	Jr	Waco High
D	Garret Patterson	Sr	Belton
D	Uriel Cienfuegos	Sr	University
D	Hector Herrera	Sr	Waco High
GK	Austin Marshall	Sr	Waco High
Honorable mention
Carlo Mosnia, Belton; Tom Gentry, Jose Hernandez and James Temple, China Spring; Brooks Bell, Micah Jones and Blaine Morgan, Lorena; Adrian Gonzales, Jon Lozano and Arnold Martinez, University; Ty Sanchez, Waco High; Jacob Bruner, Midway; Jonathan Chavez, Temple