“There is nothing tougher on an opposing team mentally than when they realize that it’s going to be really difficult for them to score,” Mosnia said. “They’re thinking, ‘What are we going to have to do to get a goal?’
“Then you score one or two more and they’re thinking, ‘If we can’t get one, how are we going to get three or four?’ It starts to wear them down.”
Garland Rowlett will be the latest team to take a crack at breaking Belton’s defensive wall when they meet in a Class 5A area playoff at 8 p.m. today at Midlothian ISD Stadium.
The Eagles (14-5-6) face a daunting task.
The Tigers (25-1) - riding a 23-game winning streak and ranked No. 5 nationally in the ESPN RISE Fab 50 poll - have yielded a miserly 20 goals this season, with shutouts in four of their last five matches.
“Twenty goals is pretty good because last year it was what, 40, 50?” said Belton junior goalkeeper Manuel Amaya, who moved from Mexico prior to last season and has minded the net ever since.
Belton will be seeking its 13th shutout of the season tonight but will have to do so without senior defender Cade Carlson, who must sit out after receiving a red card in Tuesday’s 7-0 bi-district win over North Mesquite.
However, junior defender Christian Bass - a leader along the back line - doesn’t expect a dip in performance.
“We’ve played like this before because Cade’s been out quite a few games this season,” Bass said. “We’re used to it.
“We’ve worked a lot harder this year and put more time into (playing defense), so we’re ready.”
With seniors Josh Caffey and Vincent Crepeau up front to help power an attack that has posted 122 goals, the Tigers put a renewed emphasis on defense this season.
“Defense was the main part of our whole training during the preseason and not just the back line but our whole team defending,” said Mosnia, who plans to fill the open spot in the back with a platoon of players. “If you don’t get scored on, you have a chance to win.
“We’re going to do the same things with whoever we have on the field. The good part about this team is that when we’ve had people injured or had people carded, we’ve been able to put somebody else in and they’ve been able to do the job.”
As for Amaya, he has followed his productive sophomore season with an even stronger junior campaign, one in which he feels more at home after a year in a new country with a new language.
“He’s more comfortable this year,” Mosnia said. “Last year, he didn’t say very much and I think he didn’t feel like part of the group at times because he was new. Now, he’s opened up a little bit and he’s more flamboyant when he plays.”
Amaya, who no longer speaks strictly through a translator, agreed with his coach’s assessment.
“Last year was more tough with the language,” he said. “Now, it’s more fun because I have from past years become with them more like friends.”
Other than Carlson’s spot in the back, Mosnia doesn’t plan to change a thing against Rowlett - the only team to beat nationally 11th-ranked Garland Sachse.
“I think that if you start messing around with something that’s already going pretty well, you might mess it up,” Mosnia said. “We can’t improve our team very much more.
“Right now, we want to make sure that we stay focused and not have a game where we slip mentally because that’s what usually causes a downfall at this point in the game.
NOTES: The Tigers are 13-13 all-time in the postseason. . . . Tonight’s winner will advance to next week’s Region II quarterfinals against the winner between Sachse (24-1-2) and Tyler John Tyler (14-10-3).
edrennan@temple-telegram.com
