Fabian Garcia, Caprock soccer, Sr.
On the pitch: Garcia has been a rock-solid leader all season for the Longhorns, and that was never more apparent than in last weekend’s 2-1 victory over Palo Duro, which clinched the No. 2 seed in District 3-5A for Caprock while handing No. 1 seed Palo Duro its first district loss of the season in the regular season finale. Playing center halfback, Garcia established Caprock’s defense against the Dons in clearing their attacks from the Caprock zone. While Garcia is Caprock’s defensive specialist, he picked an opportune time to score his first district goal of the season with the game tied at 1-1. With under 16 minutes left, Garcia headed in a ball off a corner kick to give the Longhorns the lead for good. It assured Caprock finished district play with a 6-1-1 mark and the No. 2 seed and with an overall record of 14-3-3.
Coach Tim Ufford: “(Garcia) won basically every ball that came his way. He did a really good job of keeping us organized in the back. He’s our vocal leader on the field and works really hard off of it. We follow his lead and he helped us keep a pretty potent Palo Duro offense relatively quiet. We’ve only given up 11 goals on the year and he’s a big reason why. We have 10 shutouts this year and have the stingiest defense in the district. He’s been a key part since his freshman year and has been starting for us ever since. He’s kind of an extension of me on the field now where he knows what I’m looking for. His opinion’s very valuable to me. Every time a ball comes back to the back he’s one of the first ones to it and he makes a pretty good pass to kind of kick start our offense.”
Garcia: “A game like that against PD which is a crosstown rival, everything’s faster and you’ve got to play up to a certain standard. Not just me, but everyone on the team played really well and more intense. I like to do my part on defense to help the team out, but it’s always good to get up there and try to score a goal for my team. Every time we line up for a corner kick we like to move around and never stay stagnant and defenses have a harder time marking us. I just got off my mark and jumped in the air to compete for the ball. I did a good enough job to get an easy header. It was really great at a time like that. I’d been waiting for a goal all season. I didn’t even mind that it took until the last game in district as long as we got the win. I think we made a statement that we can compete with anyone.”
About Garcia
Favorite band or musician: Junior H
Favorite social media platform: Instagram
Favorite athlete: Sergio Ramos
Bet you didn’t know: Started playing soccer as a striker
Parents: Manuel and Lizeth Garcia