Wharton Wins Its Own Soccer Tournament — Finally

After 10 years of playing host to its own soccer tournament, Wharton can finally say it holds the title.

It was no easy road for a win in the Wharton Invitational either. While the field for this year's tournament was smaller, Wharton had to battle through some stiff opposition just to get to the finals of the tournament, which began Dec. 16 and wrapped up on Tuesday, Dec. 20.

Wharton opened group play with a 2-3 loss to Gaither. They then blasted Lennard 6-1 and beat Freedom 3-1 to round out group play. They faced a very good Steinbrenner team; a team that won its first three group games and came into the tournament undefeated.

The boys got through Steinbrenner with a 2-1 victory, only to face Gaither in a rematch for the trophy.

The Wildcats started off with a bang; sophomore midfielder Jordan Lue put Wharton up 1-0 in the first 20 minutes. Gaither struck back just minutes later with a header by junior midfielder Tyler Helm to tie it up. Sophomore midfielder Phillipe Patino nearly hooked up with senior forward Felipe Desousa for another goal before half but the stalemate stretched deep into the second half.

In the 15th minute, freshman defender Martin Ozores cut loose from the back line and launched a shot that slipped past the Cowboy keeper and notched a 2-1 lead that would endure until the clock ran out.

"I told them they beat us once, we can't let it happen again," said Wildcat head coach Scott Ware in regards to taking on the Cowboys in the final.

"This was a good tournament for us," said Ware. "It exposed us to five good teams along with a lot of different tactics and formations."

Scott said he has the team right where he'd like them to be going into the holiday break.

"This tournament was very competitive," said Ware. "We're not peaking yet, but we finished strong and we can build some confidence off of that."