Mustangs riding their momentum
Senior-laden Westfield squad has big plans for extended campaign in the postseason
After coming down from Dallas, Michael Pistor spent last season as a volunteer assistant with Atascocita’s girls soccer team.
Now he’s gearing up to lead Westfield’s boys into the playoffs.
The Mustangs are 8-1-4 and only two points behind first-place Klein Forest going into Friday’s District 15-6A finale.
“The seniors have done a great job of holding the team together and providing good leadership, and making sure we do just as well as they did last year,” Pistor said.
“They have high expectations and want to go as far in the playoffs as possible.”
Westfield went 12-2 and placed second in district last year, and with most of those players back, their expectations are justified.
The team boasts 13 senior and a much-improved offense this season.
“Last year, they got second-place in district by playing really good defense, and they had one of the best goalies in the state, who is our senior goalie this year, Bryan Tello,” Pistor said. “And so last year most of their games were 1-0 wins, or maybe 2-1. They didn’t score a lot, but they played solid defense.
“This year, we’ve more than doubled the amount of goals they scored last year.”
Senior center midfielder Juan Patino, with great vision and awareness, is the leading scorer with 10 goals.
“He’s got a great combination of speed and touch,” Pistor said. “He sees plays opening before they happen on the field and he knows where to be. He rarely turns the ball over, and he’s a great facilitator.”
Patino was a first-team all-district pick for his scoring prowess the last two years, but he hasmore help this season.
Senior forward Denis Moran, who didn’t play last season after coming over fromMexico, has seven goals.
“He’s got really good speed up top at forward,” Pistor said.
“He slices through that defense and makes them give him a little cushion, so they stay back, and then we’ve got Juan Patino in the middle … who makes the whole system go.”
Junior midfielder Patrick Coto, who has six goals, played about half of last season after leaving his club team.
“He’s grown a lot since last year, as a player, and last year he only had two or three goals at the varsity level, but this year he’s really stepped it up,” Pistor said.
“He attacks from distance. He’s got a really good long shot from around the 35-yardmark.”
While they’re working up top, Tello is protecting the back line, making sure their goals don’t go to waste.
“He makes saves left and right,” Pistor said.
“He’s already got two or three offers to play at the collegiate level next year, when he graduates, so he’s really helped hold things together for us on defense.”
Senior left back Omar Venegas, and seniors Rudy Martinez, the right back, and MF Geovannie Chavarria, also play key roles.
Jersey Village is 10-4-4 overall going into Friday’s gamewith Klein Collins.
Klein and Klein Forest are tied in district at 9-1-3, but Forest, with 32 points, is one point aheadof Klein, which is one up on Westfield.
Collins is in fourth place at 8-3-2 with 27 points.
“The final four teams are decided,” Pistor said. “It’s just a matter of what orderwe’re going to be in.”
The seeding uncertainty means they don’t know who they’ll play in the playoffs nextweek, but Pistor’s excited to see everything unfold.
“It’s a really close race to the finish,” he said.
“You’ve got four really good teams up at the top who are giving it their best, sowe’ll see howitfinishes after Friday.”
Friday’s games are the only ones over spring break, so they’ll have a week between Collins and their last game, against Montgomery, then wait another week to open the postseason, March 24 or 26.
“You’ve got your pros and your cons there,” Pistor said.
“It’s nice to get a little rest, but at the same time you don’t want to get rusty. I think we’ll be OK. I know the boys will certainly be excited to see who we’re matched up against in the first round.” Jason McDaniel is a freelance writer who can be reached at jasonrmcdaniel@outlook.com.