LET’S PLAY SOME TOURNAMENTS | Area soccer programs keeping busy in tourney play (w/photo gallery by Dennis Jacobs)

“Tournament” is the operative word for the next couple of weeks in the high school soccer world, and both Kilgore High School teams will certainly get their share of tournament play.

Kilgore’s Lady Bulldogs played host to their own tournament last week, both at R.E. St. John Memorial Stadium and at a new field on the still-under-construction campus.

The Lady Bulldogs beat Lufkin, 4-0, as chronicled here on ETBlitz.com (LADY ‘DOGS OPEN SEASON WITH WIN! | Kilgore shuts out Lufkin, 4-0, in KHS tourney (photo gallery included) (etblitz.com)) to open the season on Thursday; they didn’t play on Friday, but then lost twice on Saturday, with a 3-2 loss to Texas High, and a 4-0 loss to Mount Pleasant.

Coach Todd BonDurant is still attempting to get some players healthy after the scrimmages, and the Lady ‘Dogs (1-2) will have a little while extra to do so: they’re off the early part of this week, then play in a tournament (there’s that word) in Forney later in the week, then in the Longview High-hosted 2024 Lady Lobo Showcase tourney next weekend, Jan. 18-20.

In the Forney event, Kilgore will open with R.L. Turner on Thursday at 1 p.m., and then face Frisco Emerson at 4. Both of those games will be at Jackson Middle School in Forney.

Kilgore’s Bulldogs played in the Pine Tree Tournament, as they do every year lately, and went unbeaten. Kilgore played to a scoreless tie in regulation time against Paris, then won 3-2 in penalty kicks, and then won the rest of their games, beating Athens and Lindale by the identical score of 6-1 on Friday, and then a 3-0 shutout of Terrell on Saturday.

Rojas scored six goals and claimed the tournament’s Golden Boot award, and he, goalkeeper Chris Martinez, Jose Vasquez, and Leo Yzaguirre were all named to the all-tournament team.

The ‘Dogs, coached by Hector Peralez, play at Lufkin on Tuesday night, starting at 5 p.m. with the junior varsity.

Sabine’s Lady Cardinals played in Kilgore’s tournament, dropping all three games, but close ones, the opener to North Lamar (3-1), then 2-0 losses to both Hardin-Jefferson and Nacogdoches.

Coach Heidi Hagan’s Lady Cards will play in a tournament in Bullard this weekend, playing Nacogdoches in a rematch from the Kilgore event on Thursday at 2:15, then the host-team, Bullard, at 4:45.

Sabine plays Brownsboro on Friday at 1 p.m., then Center at 7 p.m.

Continuing the tournament theme, Sabine’s boys will play in a tournament at Tatum this weekend, the Tatum Showcase. Sabine will face Van at noon on Thursday, Pittsburg at 2 p.m. on Friday; and New Summerfield at 5 p.m. Saturday.

Home-team Tatum will open their own event by facing Van at 2 p.m. Thursday.

Tatum’s Lady Eagles will play in the Marshall Tournament this week – Tatum plays Kemp on Thursday at 1:30 p.m., Cumberland on Friday at 11:30 a.m., and New Summerfield Saturday morning at 9:30 a.m.

Gladewater’s girls and boys soccer teams both play at Waskom on Tuesday night, a pair of non-district games that begin with the girls at 5 p.m., and then they’re off until next week.

From Kilgore’s girls tournament, against Texas High and Mount Pleasant (Photos by DENNIS JACOBS – ETBLITZ.COM)