The #1 ranked Clark boys soccer team opened district play with a 2-0 victory over Taft at Farris Stadium on Tuesday. This followed a strong showing in the highly competitive Klein Showcase over the weekend. The Cougars faced nationally recognized teams and they returned to San Antonio with one win, one tie and one loss – before the Taft victory. One of the bright spots in tourney play was forward Johnny Lawson, who garnered “Player of the Week” recognition from the Express News for his showing.

Lawson also scored one of the goals in the Taft game, along with fellow senior Oscar Barboza.

The Clark girls team didn’t open the district season as well. They dropped their game against Taft 4-0, but the Cougars did enjoy a good weekend in the Houston area Kingwood Tournament where they compiled a 2-1-1 record against some good competition there.

More tournament appearances await the teams this weekend with a trip to New Braunfels for the girls and to Boerne Champion for the boys.

Johnny Lawson

Coming off a regional tournament appearance last year, the Express News has the Clark boys varsity soccer team at #1 for it’s first rankings of the year.  14 lettermen from last year’s squad return, including forward Johnny Lawson and midfielder Oscar Barboza.  ESPNRise has the team listed at #21 in the nation.

This year’s team is led by Coach Walter Rule, who has two state championship appearances and one state title on his resume.

Soccer season starts

As the temperature continues to drop, that means one thing – time to head outdoors for soccer.  Pat Turner of the Express News chats with the boys new head coach, last year’s girl’s head coach, Walter Rule in this article.

Head Coach Walter Rule

Walter Rule has been named the head coach of boys soccer at Clark following the departure of Coach Eddie Ashley.

Ashley coached this past year’s team to a Clark record 21-2-2 and one win shy of an appearance in the state tournament.  It was the farthest a Clark boys soccer team has ever advanced in the playoffs.  Ashley resigned to take an Assistant Principal position at Boerne’s Champion High School.

Coach Rule moves over from coaching the girl’s team for the past two seasons.  Previous to Clark, Rule coached the boys team at Reagan, where he won a state championship in 2002 and his 2004 team also played in the state championship game.  He continues to coach at the club level as well and played professionally with Atlas of Mexico for two years following a successful college career, where he was an All-American place kicker for the Texas A&I (now A&M-Kingsville) Javelinas.

The new girls coach is Diana Driggers.  She has been Head Coach at both Holmes and Providence High Schools. For three years, Diana was Head Coach at Texas Lutheran University. Driggers played at MacArthur High School and advanced to the South Texas State Team twice. She played for the University of Incarnate Word and obtained the distinction of Nationally Ranked Goalkeeper (NAIA). Diana is also the AAYSA Referee Commissioner and was a Professional Referee for the Women’s Professional League.

Congratulations to Coach Ashley in his new position and good luck and congrats to Coach Rule and Driggers. AND GO COOGS!

Congratulations to Clark soccer players Macy Ellis and Roger Trevino.  Both will play in the Texas Association of Soccer Coaches Organization Senior Showcase.  The Clark Cougars are two of 21 area seniors selected to play in this weekend’s boy’s and girl’s all star games.

Senior class sings alma mater

On a night when the baseball team clinched a playoff spot and the softball team won their game giving them a playoff spot and the best ever season in Clark history, the Clark athletic community celebrated a year of great accomplishments.  The annual Clark Athletic Booster Club Sports Banquet was a phenomenal success with accolades for players and coaches alike.

Highlights included a moment to recognize Coach Lloyd Alexander and his role in shaping a culture of winning in competition and in life, a parade of athletes and coaches that also included each player and teams successes and the awarding of $15,000 in scholarships to Clark seniors.  The $15,000 was a new record for scholarships awarded by the Booster Club and was made possible by parents and their membership fees, cap/tshirt and etc. sales, ad sponsorships by advertisers and volunteers at concession duties and the ATT golf tournament.

The Booster Club has also given over $30,000 this year directly to the athletic department for their needs.

SASports.com’s Jay Tope emceed the event and as usual did an outstanding job.

Congratulations to several Clark Cougars as the spring edition of the Express News all city awards were announced. Seniors Elhad Emerllahu and Jason Brickman made the Express News Super Team in basketball.  Junior Johnny Lawson made the Express News Super Team for soccer as did Gabrielle Santorio.  Several athletes also made all area teams and all district teams.  All can be found at mysanantonio.com.

ALL AREA

Clark soccer celebrates season while thanking fans

The Clark boys soccer season ended in the regional championship against an overly whiny Westlake Chaparral team, 2-1 (even several of their fans said so…seriously…).  The Cougars finish the season with a Clark best 21-2-2 record.  Their appearance in the regional championship game is the farthest a Clark boys soccer team has ever advanced in the playoffs.

Both goals for Westlake came at point blank range, giving keeper Brandon Van Wagner little chance at stopping them.  Clark’s goal came off a corner kick rebound by sophomore Carlos Sepulveda.

The Cougars were ranked #19 in the nation and #4 in Texas by ESPN.  Congratulations on a great season.  You made us proud, boys!

• PHOTOS
• PHOTOS FROM THE OTHER GUY! (Not for Sale, unfortunately…)
• PHOTOS Express News
• KABB TV Video
• Express News

Coach Eddie Ashley’s comments after the game:

The Clark boys soccer team advanced to the regional championship Friday with a win over Mission Sharyland at Blossom Stadium. The Coogs heart stopping path to the “Elite Eight” of Texas high school soccer came with another shootout. For the third game in a row Clark ended regulation and overtime tied and this time like the last it was 0-0. In methodical fashion, Johnny Lawson, Oscar Barboza and Evan Javors  made the first three goals of the shootout while Cougar goalkeeper Brandon Van Wagner kept Sharyland out altogether ending the game. Read more in the Express News. And at RGVsports.com.

Next step comes at 3:00 Saturday at Blossom when Clark takes on familiar foe – Austin Westlake (18-5-2) . At stake is one of four spots in the state tournament.

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• MORE PHOTOS (this guy is good)

In a report by rgvsports.com, it appears that three of Mission Sharyland’s starters will not be playing much in the regional game between Clark and the Rattlers on Friday at 4:30pm at Blossom.

Apparently, the three are committed to playing for their club team, an affiliate of the Houston Dyanamo professional soccer team, in a Dallas area game at 1:30pm and may not be back in time to play for their high school team or at best not be available until the second half.