Lena Candia, Conference Player of Year	David Purser, All-Conference Defender

Scorpion Soccer:
   Men's, Women's Teams Enjoy Successful First Year
Posted October 25, 2007
Optimism is always high when a university adds a new sport to its program.

Everyone – from the administration, coaches, student-athletes and community – is hopeful for immediate success.

All-Conference defender Carling Rootes (3)

Rarely does it happen like it did at UTB/TSC in 2007, when the Scorpions added men’s and women’s soccer into the athletics programs and realized instant success with a conference championship and a third-place finish.

With the regular season in the record books, the sounds of “Olé, olé, olé!” were all over the UTB/TSC campus.

The Scorpion men’s soccer team finished its first season 11-4-1, including a perfect 7-0 record in the Red River Athletic Conference. The Scorpion women’s team finished 10-6 overall, and 5-2 in the RRAC, good for a third-place finish.

The success was something that Director of Athletics Dan Huntley dreamed would happen.

“I could not be happier for the success our two programs have had this fall,” Huntley said. “Our department has an expectation of success in the classroom and on the field.  Our coaches, our staff and our players have accepted that challenge in every way and each of our teams continues to make great strides in their overall success.”

Not only is soccer new to the Scorpion program, the Scorpion program is new to the NAIA. UTB/TSC is in its second year competing in the NAIA after more than three decades as a member of the NJCAA as Texas Southmost College. The Scorpion volleyball program enjoyed success, advancing to the national tournament in 1988, 1991, 1998 and 2004.

And although TSC formed a unique partnership with The University of Texas at Brownsville in 1991, Scorpion athletics still competed in the NJCAA until the administration was ready to expand athletics in 2005.

Building a Four-Year Program and Adding Soccer

Enter Huntley, who was hired in 2005 as the school’s first full-time Director of Athletics without coaching responsibilities. At the time, Scorpion athletics included men’s and women’s golf, baseball and volleyball. With the passion for soccer in the area and the success of the local high school soccer teams at the state level, it was a no-brainer which sport to add first.

After securing membership into the NAIA and the RRAC, Huntley laid out the plan for the administration to add men’s and women’s soccer in Fall 2007. He hired Dan Balaguero, former head coach at Virginia Intermont College, to coach the men’s team, and Nik Barjaktarevic, former head coach at Dana College (Neb.), to coach the women's team. Both coaches had less than one year to build their programs.

“It was a challenge to recruit 24 new players in short time (since February) but it was fun,” Balaguero said. “Having so many good players in the Brownsville area really helped. I was extremely lucky to have a strong relationship with my former players at VIC. When the school dropped its soccer program this past year, I knew that many of them would be interested in playing for me again.  They have been a tremendous help in providing leadership to a new program and have played a major role on the field allowing us to have success this year." 

Virginia Intermont College dropped men’s and women’s soccer from its athletic programs this season. Six former VIC student-athletes transferred to UTB/TSC – three from England, one from Scotland and another from Spain. Five freshmen came from Balaguero’s home country of England, two came from Serbia, one from Canada, and 10 lived in the Rio Grande Valley. Three student-athletes on the women’s team also transferred from VIC.

Sophomore Samantha Thorman (11) from Harlingen

“Becoming the first women's soccer coach and starting the program here was very exciting and I could not resist becoming a part of it,” Barjaktarevic said. “Although there was not too much time from March until practice started in August, we were able to put together a great recruiting class - a mix of players from the Rio Grande Valley, Texas, other states as well as International players.”

Half of the team is from the Rio Grande Valley, two are from other areas in Texas, four are from other states in the U.S., and the countries of Brazil, Canada, Germany, Scotland and Sweden are represented.

Huntley is proud of the program both coaches have started.

“Dan and Nik have worked extremely hard to build a quality program in a short time,” Huntley said. “Both coaches are very concerned about the academic success of their students as well as recognizing the success they have already had on the field this fall.  I know both of the coaches well enough to know that they are not satisfied with where their programs are and each will strive to represent our university in a positive manner as they continue to build their programs.”

Overcoming Obstacles: No Practice Field, No Playing Field

Once the teams were assembled, finding a suitable practice facility was the next roadblock. The Scorpions do not have a soccer field on campus, and shuttling the teams to a regulation-size field at one of the city parks on a daily basis would have expensive.  

So the Scorpions choose to practice on the outfield grass at the team’s baseball facility, setting up temporary goals in the outfield each day.

“Our teams have done tremendously this fall when you consider that neither of them has practiced more than two times on a regulation-size field,” Huntley said.  “For ease of player transportation (being on campus) and having practice on a great surface each day has allowed us the opportunity to stay within our budget and let our players walk to practice.” 

Securing a game field was the next challenge.  The best surface in the city was at Morningside Park, a City of Brownsville park located four miles east of campus. Huntley started negotiations with Skip Keller, City Parks and Recreation Director.

 “The City was able to accommodate our entire schedule, took care of the daily game maintenance of the field, worked to secure a new scoreboard and donated a sign with our logo on it,” Huntley said. “The City also accommodated our request to bring in more bleachers.”

However, even with the new bleachers, the seating capacity was about 200. The Scorpions found out very early that the seating capacity was severely lacking.

Fernando Mendoza (11), All-Conference Forward

The Home Crowds Were Fantastic

For the home opener September 20, the total crowd counting several hundred standing outside the fence was about 1,000.

“Our crowds have been out of this world and have truly given our teams a home field advantage,” Huntley said.

Balaguero and Barjaktarevic were ecstatic about the home crowds.

Freshman defender Kari Brown

“The support from the community has been tremendous, our fans are the best, we love playing at home,” Balaguero said. “People in Brownsville are very knowledgeable about the game, you can tell by the ooohs and aaahs in the crowd during the games.”

The attendance averaged about 450 for the five women’s home games and about 800 the six men’s home games.

“The support from the community has been great,” Barjaktarevic said. I know the players enjoy playing in true soccer environment with close to 500 fans every game. This is probably the reason we were unbeaten at home with no goals against. The way our team tried to reward the fans was by scoring average of eight goals per game.

“I wouldn't be surprised that we had the best attendance for home games in NAIA.”

Staff from the Division of Enrollment Management at UTB/TSC organized a tailgaters group. Their numbers for the home opener was about 70. Later, the Scorpion Alumni Association brought a group. Then the Business Affairs Division jumped on the bandwagon.

By the last home game, the tailgaters numbered about 300, even parking a Winnebago at the west parking lot. They offered free food for anyone wanting to visit. The tailgaters saw the games from behind the west goal, not the best of views, but they had a good time.

And then there was the drumline, known as "Chino's Army." A group of seven students and non-students organized by the brother of Scorpion freshman Rogelio "Chino" Perez made their own bilingual chants, banging the drums mercilessly. After the games, they would come on the field and Chino would show that he knew how to drum as well as they could.

Cancellations Dampen Spirits for Home Openers

The season did not start as planned for the Scorpions. Instituto Tec Superiores de Poza Rica, Mexico was scheduled to play exhibition games against both the men’s and women’s teams as home season openers August 23. But Poza Rica could not secure enough visas for its student-athletes and cancelled its games with the Scorpions.

The Angelo State University women’s team was scheduled to play the Scorpions in Brownsville August 25, but canceled its trip because of the threat of Hurricane Dean, which struck the Mexican coast about 300 miles south of Brownsville two days before the scheduled game date.

Thus, the first home game would not be until September 20.

Women’s Soccer Success

The women’s team started out strong, winning five of its first seven games. At mid-season, the Scorpions lost three in a row, including conference losses on the road to eventual champ Northwood University 3-1 and runner-up Texas Wesleyan, 2-1. They also lost on the road at Houston Baptist University, an NCAA Division I school.

But the Scorpions picked it up at the end of the season, winning their final three games to finish 10-6.

“My goal was to put the best team possible and have the best student-athletes represent our program, school as well as the community,” Barjaktarevic said. “We are a very young team, mostly freshman, and where ever we finish the plan is to build up on it for next year.”

Forward Lena Candia, a VIC transfer from Malmo, Sweden, led the team with 22 goals and seven assists. Her 1.38 goals per game ranked seventh best in the NAIA. She received NAIA National Player of the Week honors for the last week of the regular season and was RRAC Player of the Week four times.

The Scorpions had seven players on the RRAC All-Conference First Team, including midfielders Vanessa Gallegos, Brittany Moseley and Lauren Owens, and defenders Aleisha Cassie, Kristin Resing and Carling Rootes.

Freshman Juan Gamboa, All-Conference Goalkeeper from Brownsville

Men’s Team Wins Championship

The men’s team started the season 0-1-1 before picking up steam. After that, the team’s only losses were non-conference games to Our Lady of the Lake and St. Thomas, plus NCAA Division I Houston Baptist. In between those, the Scorpions piled up the conference victories, outscoring the seven conference opponents, 27-5.

The Scorpions would finish the season with an 11-4-1 record, and 7-0 mark to win the RRAC championship in their first year of soccer.

“My first goal was to have a winning record, I knew that we would have a chance at being successful in the conference,” Balaguero said. “To go 7-0 exceeded my expectations.”

Scorpion men's coach Dan Balaguero gets dunked with water at moment clock struck zero in win over Texas College that clinched RRAC Championship

The leadership and clutch play of senior captain Mark McCormick was huge for the Scorpions. McCormick, a midfielder and transfer from VIC, had two game-winning goals in a row in 1-0 wins over College of the Southwest and Texas Wesleyan. McCormick was named RRAC Newcomer of the Year for his efforts.

Also making the All-Conference first team were forward Fernando Mendoza, defender Dave Purser and freshman goalkeeper Juan Gamboa. Making the second team were midfielders Marko Malovic and Aaron Scutt.

“We have some very good players here,” Balaguero said. “It has been a tremendous season thus far to go perfect in the RRAC feels great.”

The Future Looks Solid

The women’s soccer Scorpions are very young without a senior on the roster.

 “We should have a nationally recognized program within next three years,” Barjaktarevic said. “We have a great thing started, program is definitely on the right track, and I hope everyone else is sharing my excitement about the future of soccer at UTB/TSC.”

The men’s team loses only one senior in McCormick, the captain.

“We hope to put UT-Brownsville on the national soccer map,” Balaguero said. “Hopefully, we can do well in the postseason and have a strong soccer program here for many years to come.

The Scorpions are optimistic that they are on the right track for success.

-- Photos by Juan Miguel Gonzalez