All-East Texas Girls Soccer Player of the Year: Jazmine Navarro, Robert E. Lee (Sarah A. Miller/Tyler Morning Telegraph)

Robert E. Lee’s Jazmine Navarro likes to set goals and the annual All-East Texas Girls Soccer team was no different.

Newcomer of the Year as a freshman in 2014: Check.

Earn All-ET first team honors: Check. Navarro was chosen for the first team as a sophomore and junior.

Secure REL’s first playoff victory in six years: Check. The Lady Raiders topped Lufkin this season, 4-0, in bi-district with Navarro scoring one of the goals.

Be named All-ET MVP?

Navarro put forth that goal four years ago while the then-freshman was waiting to have her picture taken for All-ET Newcomer of the Year.

Earlier this week she received word from head coach Chris Woodard. Check.

Navarro, a senior, is the 2017 Player of the Year on the Tyler Morning Telegraph and ETFinalScore.com’s All-East Texas Girls Soccer Team. She follows Grace Community’s Lexye Price, who was POY last year.

“It’s always been important to me to set goals before every season: long term, short term and I knew I wanted this, and I just had to go out this season and be relentless and just handle what I could handle,” said Navarro, a Texas Women’s University signee who was also chosen District 11-6A Offensive MVP after the midfielder produced 18 goals and provided 22 assists for the Lady Raiders.

Joining Navarro on the All-ET girls soccer team is Whitehouse freshman forward Alicia Gurrusquieta, who follows Lee freshman Abby Tillson of a year ago as this year’s Newcomer of the Year. Athens coach Mark Hall is Coach of the Year, following Grace Community’s Mitch Smith, who received it last year.

 

PLAYER OF THE YEAR

Her head coach doesn’t mince words when discussing Navarro.

“Jaz is definitely the best player in this East Texas, and it’s not close,” said Woodard, who added he has enjoyed coaching her four years and is sorry she is graduating.

“She’s the kind of person you want on her team because she works hard all the time. It’s good for the other player to see her work rate and see how it pays off. You try to coach kids to do that, but not everyone is willing to do it. She has put in the time and has done the work and she deserves all of the accolades she is receiving.”

The last Lady Raider to be named All-ET Player of the Year was Johna Germany in 2010. Woodard compares Navarro to another former Lady Raider, Julia Harrison, a three-team All-ET honoree who just completed her collegiate soccer career at St. Edward’s University and was chosen for the All-America Team.

“I see the same kinds of things happening for Jaz in college,” Woodard said.

Navarro said her senior year was geared toward one main goal: reaching the playoffs and finally winning at least one, if not more, postseason games. The Lady Raiders reached at least the area round of the playoffs for nine straight years from 2001 to 2009, but hadn’t stepped foot on the pitch in a second-round playoff game since 2011.

The Lady Raiders were able to qualify for the playoffs in Navarro’s sophomore and junior seasons as the fourth-place team in district, but was put out by Waco Midway in both years. Navarro knew fourth place wasn’t going to cut it, but two weeks into this season she would have taken any path for REL to get into the playoffs.

The Lady Raiders began district play 1-3-1 and were rooted at the bottom of the standings.

“I was definitely looked upon as kind of like, ‘Hey, (Jaz), get them motivated, get them going and don’t let them think that the season is over,” Navarro said. “I was getting my (tail) kicked as well and I was (frustrated with myself, too). You just want to be your best for everyone all the time.”

A 4-1 win at home against North Mesquite sparked a turnaround that the Lady Raiders used to go unbeaten in their remaining nine regular-season games, finishing second overall in the standings.

“It was a long journey and it started off rough. Iris (Irasel Pacheco) scored a lot of big-time goals for us and Meghan Romines scored our only goal against Rockwall, so we had players (step up) and we just let that momentum carry us in,” Navarro said. “We just came in fired up (in the playoff) against Lufkin. We wanted to play good soccer; that was our main focus.”

Lee’s journey ended the next week against Garland Sachse, but it didn’t dampen any of Navarro or the Lady Raiders’ accomplishments.

Next up is collegiate soccer for TWU.

“It’s never been about individual accolades to me, I always just want our team and our school to have so much success,” Navarro said. “I knew when I came in how successful the program had been and we wanted to (return) it to that and set a standard for the younger players. It has been exciting.”

 

NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR

Whitehouse coach Brad Jones knew he “had a player” in freshman Gurrusquieta.

But Gurrusquieta suffered a concussion in the preseason, which meant no soccer until she was completely cleared. She was sidelined for more than a month.

“During practices I would always go and see what they’d do, to try and get it down,” Gurrusquieta said about being out of the lineup. “I would go and try and support.”

She made her debut in Whitehouse’s district opener against Corsicana. Gurrusquieta did not start, but came off the bench midway through the first half.

She scored her first varsity goal within 30 seconds of entering play. The LadyCats freshman followed it up with a second goal, adding a third later to produce a hat trick in her first-ever varsity game.

“She’s a great kid,” Jones said of Gurrusquieta. “She’s fearless with good speed and a natural ability to finish. When she gets a little more meat on her bones, she’ll only get better.”

Gurrusquieta went on to score 12 goals and help Whitehouse win the district title and enter the playoffs against Waco University. The LadyCats were upset by University in the first round, which only fuels her fire going forward into next year.

“It turned out pretty well. We did a lot of good things,” Gurrusquieta said. “I feel like the team will progress more. I have to score more (goals next year).”

 

COACH OF THE YEAR

It was September and Athens High School was holding its “Meet the Hornets” night. When Mark Hall stepped to the microphone to introduce the Athens girls soccer team, he added something a little extra at the end.

“I boldly went out in front of them and said, ‘This is the year we are going to go to state,'” Hall said. “I knew what I had coming back … and the previous year we were the regional finalist, so I knew there was a really good possibility that we were going to be better.”

Hall’s team backed up his proclamation, reaching the state tournament for the first time in school history.

Led by senior Makayle Traxson (All-ET Player of the Year in 2015, All-ET first team in 2016, 2017), who scored 41 goals and added 15 assists, the Lady Hornets went 15-11-1.

It was Hall’s third year with the program. In his first year, Athens won its first playoff game and reached the regional tournament in 2016.

“Our season started off a little shaky. I knew I had talent, but I was trying to figure out who would go where,” Hall said. “I scheduled a lot of hard games in non-district. I ended the preseason with Jasper, who was the defending 4A runner-up. I set a tough schedule to put us in position to be ready.”

Jasper defeated Athens 9-1 in that game, but Hall also believes that was a turning point because it prompted him to make a lineup change. He paired sisters Raygan and Rachel Young in central defense.

“I took them off the front and put them in the back,” Hall said of moving the Youngs. “They are both super strong and had that chemistry that I needed as far as our defense needed to tighten up. Both are great leaders, too, and from there we just started rocking and rolling.”

In district play, Athens surrendered just five goals and entered the playoffs as district champs for the first time ever. The Lady Hornets were eliminated by Kilgore the previous year, and needed to win one playoff game to set up a rematch again in the regional quarterfinals.

The teams battled through regulation and overtime tied 4-4, which meant penalty kicks would decide it. It was up to junior keeper Makayla Lewis and she delivered for the Lady Hornets with three saves to give Athens a playoff victory.

In the regional tournament, Traxson overcame a broken nose in the semifinals to lead Athens past Mabank, 4-2. With one more win to accomplish the goal of making it to state, Traxson and Lewis were at their best. Traxson scored three goals and Lewis delivered 12 saves in a 6-2 win over Terrell.

Athens lost to eventual state champion Stephenville in the state semifinals.

Looking at next year, Hall loses Traxson and Raygan Young, but returns several starters, led by Rachel Young and Lewis.

“We are going to be solid for the next three years,” Hall said. “Next year I have a lot of returning seniors. We have a bright future.”

TWITTER: @CParryETFS

 

 

Tyler Morning Telegraph/ETFinalScore.com’s All-East Texas Girls Soccer Team

Superlatives

Player of the Year: Jazmine Navarro, Sr., Robert E. Lee

Newcomer of the Year: Alicia Gurrusquieta, Fr., Whitehouse

Coach of the Year: Mark Hall, Athens

 

FIRST TEAM 11

Makayle Traxson, Sr., Athens

Alex Bice, Sr., Robert E. Lee

Lexye Price, Jr., Grace Community

Alondra Sarmiento, Sr., Chapel Hill

Lindsey Raabe, Sr., Whitehouse

Taylor Webb, Jr.., Lindale

Karla Bustos, Jr., Robert E. Lee

Raygan Young, Sr., Athens

Destiny Crawford, Jr., Jacksonville

Megan Watts, Jr., Hallsville

GK: Makayla Lewis, Jr., Athens

 

SECOND TEAM 11

Katy Raby, Sr., Kilgore

Kyra Robinson, Sr., Athens

Brooke Morris, Soph., Whitehouse

Evan Hampton, Soph., Hallsville

Sophie Claire Rook, Jr., Grace Community

Kourtney Hitchcock, Jr., Robert E. Lee

Anna Joy Kuehn, Sr., Robert E. Lee

Yaneli Casas, Soph., Palestine

Kaitlyn Word, Jr., Kilgore

Rachel Young, Jr., Athens

GK: Sydney Malmstrom, Soph., Whitehouse

 

Honorable Mention

All Saints: Emmy Hager (Soph.), Samantha Morgan (Jr.), Kaitlin Hossley (Fr.), Lilley Lewis (Jr.), Hanna Waits (Jr.); Athens: Kate Nieto (Fr.), Taylor Stiles (Fr.), Isabel Villedas (Sr.); Bullard Brook Hill: Blessing Kima (Sr.), Heather McLarry (Sr.); Chapel Hill: Lydia Lopez (Sr.), Leticia Munoz (Sr.), Maddy Wages (Soph.); Cumberland Academy: Alexis Farr (Fr.), Sophie Shilling (Fr.); Gladewater: Haley Krause; Grace Community: Bailey Nutt (Sr.), Sydney Molina (Sr.), Sierra Benner (Soph.), Emily McKinney (Jr.), Rylan Wright (Jr.); Hallsville: Peyton Montgomery (Jr.), Alexis Summers (Jr.), Shaun Breaux (Sr.), Kayleigh Guevara (Jr.), Maddie Floyd (Soph.); Henderson: Lizmar CiBrian (Soph.), Andrea Elizondo (Sr.), Jennifer Galvan (Jr.), Kayla Cervantes (Fr.), Susanna Rojas (Sr.); Jacksonville: Sidney Chambless (Sr.), Kelsey Traylor (Fr.), Sydney McDaniel (Sr.); John Tyler: Maritza Montoya, Laila Zuniga (Fr.); Kilgore: Tori Shipman (Soph.), Kylie Nichols (Soph.), Casey Trejo (Sr.), Jasmine Wheat (Soph.), Kaitlan Miller (Sr.), Leslie Bennett (Jr.), Ashley Castillo (Soph.); Lindale: Hope Williams, Kayla Daughtry, Lauren Sumner; Longview: Carrie Gilliland (Jr.), Deja Moore (Sr.), Allison VanBurkleo (Jr.); Mabank: Carson Marsh, Brittni Anthony (Sr.), Alexus Escalante (Jr.), Catherine Turner (Sr.), Morgan Williams (Sr.); Palestine: Madison Munoz (Jr.), Janet Aleman (Soph.), Jasmine Guillen (Sr.), Lauryn James (Sr.), Caitlyn Martinez (Soph.), Pine Tree: Callie Ball (Sr.), Lexi Tate (Sr.), Raquel Gibson (Sr.); Robert E. Lee: Priscilla Rincon (Sr.), Abby Tillson (Soph.); Spring Hill: Valeria Rodriguez, Hanna Jackson, Avery Barnhill, Allison Hicks, Reagan Barnhill; Whitehouse: Alli Cardwell, Rachel Fulgham, Chloe Towler, Regan Tyrrell