On January 10-12, the Azle soccer teams participated in the Rex King Memorial Tournament hosted by Timber Creek High School. All of the proceeds from the tournament went to Hospice of Fort Worth.

Junior Nikki Quevedo scored a couple of free kicks and seniors Mike Iya and Alex Ortiz scored against Waxahachie Life. Starting goalie, Wyatt Hrubes got a concussion in a previous game so Enrique Vazquez stepped in and kept a clean sheet for the rest of the games. The varsity men’s soccer team finished with three wins and one tie and placed first in the tournament.

“It was miserable conditions and we made a few mistakes and they scored a couple goals because of it,” Coach Brad Averitte said. “It was 40 degrees with constant rain and it was awful.”

The JV boys A and B teams competed against three teams each in the Rex King memorial tournament. The soccer teams have gotten really close by spending lots of time together and they even have some game traditions, to say the least.

“During the game, we try to fight to get us pumped and aggressive,” sophomore Elias Guzman said.

There wouldn’t be an achievement without failure and the varsity Azle Women’s Soccer team were a great example of that by placing third in the tournament which is higher than they placed the previous year. They competed against teams from Sam Houston, Kilgore, Timber Creek, and Denton Ryan and won two out of the four games played. The Lady Hornets experienced some turmoil when sophomore Emily Villagomez twisted her ankle but bounced back when senior Daisy Tabarez blocked a penalty kick.

“Several players had good performances,” Coach Timothy Lyons said. “Senior Kara Moore and junior Journie Long were the goal scorers in the first two games.”

The Junior Varsity Women’s Soccer team also played in the Timbercreek tournament. They played in the cold, muddy and windy conditions against four different teams. Sophomores Christine Krupa and Logan Creech are two midfielders who worked together to connect the passes.

“Throughout the tournament, our goalkeeper, Kilian McDonald-Boyer, made some incredible saves,” Coach Ashleigh Litvin said. “The two JV captains who are our center backs, Kalea O’Gorman and Taryn Sumner, stayed calm and collected and provided leadership for our young team.”