For the boys and girls soccer teams of Juarez-Lincoln, bi-district was an ease – purely because they were given a first round bye. For others, like the boys and girls squad of Sharyland, bi-district was an ease – purely because they were that much better than the competition. All four teams are playing this week in the next playoff round.

Yes, the two teams from Shary took down their first-round opponents by a combined score of 8-0. The Lady Rattlers scored five goals against Laredo Martin while their male counterparts scored three in their shutout over Laredo LBJ. Victoria Valadez led the Lady Rattlers with the team’s first two goals.

The win by Head Coach JJ Lopez’s ladies’squad, set them up for a rematch with Harlingen South. That area game was played last night after press time. The Lady Hawks have eliminated Sharyland in the past three area rounds, including last year’s 3-2 decision. Watch for the game results online at www.progresstimes.net.

Read more: Shary, Juarez-Lincoln boys & girls advance

Juarez Lincoln’s Lady Huskies soccer team will have a sectional play-off game on Thursday, April 5, at Juarez Lincoln High School field vs. ValleyView Lady Tigers at 7 p.m.

Juarez Lincoln Huskies boys soccer team will have their sectional play-off game on Saturday, April 7, at LJISD Football Stadium vs Weslaco East Wildcats at 7 p.m.

Congratulations and good luck to all of our local soccer teams in the playoffs.

SHS soccer teams advance after shutting out opponents in bi-district

In bi-district soccer playoff games fielded Monday, April 2, the Sharyland Rattlers skunked Laredo LBJ, 3-0, while the Lady Rattlers blanked Laredo Martin 5-0.

The ladies now face Harlingen South on Thursday, and the boys take on Edinburg Economedes, also on Thursday. Economedes took down Hanna via a shootout in their bi-district game.

Following is the area play-off game information for the Sharyland boys soccer team.

Read more: SHS announces area soccer playoff schedule

Sharyland girls soccer has an opportunity this year to take their program to new heights. The last time the team won the district championship was 2008. The last time the team got past second round of the postseason was 2005.

With the district championship secured, the team is looking forward to the playoffs. Head Coach JJ Lopez’s squad rammed their way through 30-5A, finishing district with a 13-1 record and beating out defending champ McHi, as well as other contenders Nikki Rowe and Memorial.

Read more: Sharyland girls take home district championship, preparing for playoffs

It is not often that a school in its first season of athletic play is able to set the standard for subsequent teams down the road but that is what the 2009 Juarez-Lincoln girls did when they reached the regional quarterfinals of the state tournament.

That special team benefited from having some of the best players from La Joya the year before. That experience helped the Lady Huskies take down Edcouch-Elsa and Veterans Memorial before losing to Beeville Jones.

Alexandro Davila coached the team then as well as now and feels this year’s 2012 squad has the potential to go just as far.

Read more: District 32-4A champs Juarez girls ready for deep post season run

MISSION – Playing with half their bench, including a few JV players, Mission held off Sharyland on Tuesday to defeat the Rattlers 3-2, and claim their first District 30-5A victory over their archrival at Rattlers Stadium.

Due to a missed practice, several of Mission’s starters were benched for the game against Sharyland by Eagles head coach Christos Barouhas, including starting goalkeeper Erasmo Vásquez, who was substituted by Alvaro Gonzalez.

“Yesterday we had practice and seven of our guys didn’t show up, so I suspended everybody for the game today, including my starting goalkeeper,” Barouhas said. “I had a lot of subs and three JV kids I moved up, and they did a great job. They knew what was at stake, and we won the game. It was a dramatic game, Sharyland always gives us good games, but we picked it up, especially the kids that hadn’t played before.”

Read more: Bench gives Mission first district victory over Sharyland