Moving on to McAllen

A comeback win last Friday propelled the Gonzales Apaches to the Region IV-4A tournament this upcoming weekend where the boys soccer team will take on Canyon Lake this Friday at the McAllen Veterans Memorial Stadium after beating the Zapata Hawks 4-2 in Corpus Christi.  Down 1-0 at the half, the Apaches came back, outscoring the Hawks 4-1 in the second half to win by two. Anthony Veliz was the leading scorer, coming away with two goals. Seniors Alejandro Pruneda and Julian Matamoros each had one goal. Goalkeeper Luis Hernandez finished with five saves.

This Friday, the Apaches take on Canyon Lake, a team Gonzales head coach Greg Ramirez knows all too well.

Both teams played against each other in the finals of the Gonzales-hosted tournament early January. After ending regulation tied 1-1, the Apaches won 4-3 in penalties, with Hernandez saving one of the misses.

“Canyon Lake is tough, like they’ve always been,” Ramirez said at the time.

The overall series is tied between Gonzales and Canyon Lake with the Eagles winning 4-3 in 2017, both teams tied 0-0 early 2018 and the Apaches winning earlier this season. The 2017 victory was in the Region IV-4A quarterfinals while the other two games were in non-district play.

Kickoff is at 4 p.m. on Friday. The winner plays the winner between Taylor and Progreso the next day at noon.

The Apaches tied Taylor 2-2 this season. Gonzales is 3-1-1 overall against the Ducks. Both teams split games in 2017. The Apaches swept Taylor in 2016.

Gonzales played Progreso twice ever. Once was a Region IV-4A semifinals 8-1 loss in 2016. The other, a 5-4 non-district loss in 2017.