There's no doubt Preston Davis is going out in style.
Davis, a senior midfielder on the Cinco Ranch boys soccer team, added an extra gear to his game in the regional tournament, scoring one goal in the semifinal and two in the championship to ensure the Cougars their first regional championship.
For his accomplishments, Davis is the Athlete's Connection's CollegeBallorBust.com Athlete of the Week.
To hear him tell the story, he simply was in the right place and capitalized on his teammates' acumen.
But to listen further, one hears that Davis isn't planning on furthering his soccer career beyond this week. For one, he stopped playing club soccer in order to devote more time to his church band, which is releasing a CD later this month.
Priorities in order, indeed.
But until then ...
"I'm incredibly happy we're going to state," Davis said Sunday night. "For right now, our whole team is just living in the moment. But we have work left to do."
Cinco Ranch plays Lewisville Flower Mound Marcus in a state semifinal at 4 p.m. Thursday in Round Rock. The winner plays San Antonio Churchill or Klein in the state championship at 1 p.m. Saturday.
Davis, who shares team captain duties with Josh Reicks and Juan Fernando Nino, said the Cougars entertained thoughts of a deep postseason run the entire year, but added it became more palpable after going 8-0-6 in extremely competitive District 18-5A.
"At the beginning of the season we all fantasized about it," Davis said. "We won two tournament early in the year and then we figured, why not see how we'd do in our district? I think we became noticed then and people thought we might be a team that could make a run."
Cinco Ranch tied Katy and Mayde Creek twice each, beating the latter in a regional quarterfinal, and had draws with Hastings and Morton Ranch.
Davis, who has 19 goals this season, scored off a corner kick in the regional semifinal against Clear Lake and added two first-half goals Saturday for a 2-0 lead against traditional power Kingwood. Cinco Ranch won 3-2.
Soccer isn't the only thing on Davis' mind, though.
After the state tournament, his other big undertaking - playing electric guitar in the band at Grace Fellowship United Methodist Church in Katy - will result in the release of a CD entitled RPM (Radical Praise Ministry).
"My second passion to soccer is music," said Davis, whose teammate Matt Larsen sings in the band. "It makes me balance my time."
Davis plans to attend Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas, and major in biology. That school's program has invited him to play soccer if he changes his mind.
"I plan to attend medical school and I anticipate having a lot on my plate in college," Davis said. "I'm gonna start college and get my feet wet and if I miss the game I'll definitely go out for the team. The coach (Don Gregory) wants me to keep in touch with him."
|