The head girls soccer coach at Mingus Union High School has said it before and said it again Tuesday, Jan. 6, after two wins in Cave Creek at the Arizona Soccer Showcase.
“Tournaments don’t count for anything.”
Nevertheless, Thomas “Buddy” Rhodes saw his Marauders girls improve to 6-4 overall, including four wins in six tournament games at the Reach 11 Sports Complex, as they rebounded from an earlier loss to Centennial High School with a 2-0 win Dec. 30 at the Arizona Soccer Showcase.
“We don’t go down there to win a big, glass trophy,” Rhodes said. “We go down to push a team that isn’t in contention into contention. We’ll find out if it helps us or not after the first two games this week, which are very important and will set the tone for us.”
Thursday, Jan. 8, to be exact, will be when the Marauders — 2-2 in games that count toward an Arizona Interscholastic Association playoff power ranking — know a great deal more about themselves. That is when their power ranking debuts and when MUHS returns to Reach 11 for one more game, a Section I matchup with Scottsdale Preparatory Academy at 5 p.m.
For the full story, please see the Wednesday, Jan. 7, issue of the Cottonwood Journal Extra.
