Jayson Larson
The Athens Review
Athens — The Athens varsity soccer teams are officially getting down to business.
A little more than a month after beginning their season, the Hornets and Lady Hornets will open District 31-4A action today. The Hornets (0-6-2) will host the Chapel Hill Bulldogs with junior varsity beginning at 5:30 p.m. Varsity action will kick off at 7 p.m.
The Lady Hornets (7-7) will travel to Chapel Hill, with the same time schedule: JV starts at 5:30 p.m., with varsity to follow around 7 p.m.
The Hornets are coming off back-to-back ties that Head Coach Mark Ingram feels could give his team a little confidence heading into district. The ties came against Palestine (2-2) and Hallsville (4-4). Macqueus “Mick” Maldonado returned to the starting lineup and helped jump start the offense, Ingram said. Sophomore Jose Romero had three goals and senior Jesus Rodriguez added another.
“We’ve got a very young team that shows a lot of promise,” Ingram said.
The Lady Hornets have been getting solid play of late from Jessica Castaneda, Priscilla Brannon and Abby Soto, to name a few. Head Coach Dedra Jackson said the team has been in a slump lately, but she hopes the Lady Hornets will come to life at the right time.
“I’m hoping we can rebound before going into Chapel Hill,” Jackson said.
District 31-4A also includes Lindale, Whitehouse, Mabank and Eustace.
