H.M. King High School’s varsity boys soccer team went 1-2 during a tournament hosted in Alice this past weekend. Scoring goals for the Brahmas were Demetre Richardson, Luke Waddingham, Manny Longoria and Jacob Perez.

The Bulls defeated Corpus Christi Miller 3-1 in the opening round.

“We started the tournament off strong against Miller, I think we were in pretty good shape and the boys played hard for the whole game,” Head Coach Ryan Hrncir said. “I was very pleased with our first performance and we were very confident going into our next game.”

After Miller, the Brahmas ran into a brick wall when they lost 7-0 to Corpus Christi Ray.

“Ray is a very good team and I do not think we were ready for how good they were,” Hrncir said. “There were some very tough weather conditions that Friday and we lost for a number of reasons; first and foremost because Ray was a better team. We could have played them a lot better and I think a big part of why we didn’t was mental.”

H.M. King lost their final contest 3-1 to Alice.

“We played well against Alice and had a very good first half where we were up by one with three minutes left until the intermission which is when they tied it up,” Hrncir said. “In the second half they scored two goals off of penalty kicks and we had a lot of chances but committed too many mental mistakes - like offsides - but I think we have learned from that so hopefully we are going to grow and become better going into this weekend’s tournament.”

Hrncir believes his team will improve once they fix the kinks in their think.

“Really, we just need to fix our mental breakdowns,” Hrncir said. “We can’t give our opponents penalty kicks for no reason and the main thing we need to do is just play smarter all the way around.”

Quickness, on the other hand, is one thing the Brahmas have going for them.

“We’re fast, our forwards are quick and that is the strength of our team,” Hrncir said. “We have very good experienced centermidfielders. One of our two faster forwards just got hurt, but we’ll see if he comes back before this weekend’s tournament; if not then hopefully by the time district comes around when the games count.”

H.M. King will need to tap into their speed, among other things, in order to compete with the formidable teams in District 31-4A.

“This is my first year coaching soccer here and from what I have heard this district is very tough,” Hrncir said. “The main reason why is because all three of the Laredo teams (Cigarroa, LBJ and Nixon) are very formidable. They are three of the better teams in this area - possibly the state - and the favorites to get to the playoffs and win district.”