Forget “ying” and “yang.”

In the soccer world, players are either “piano carriers” – those who do the dirty work – or “piano players,” the talent that benefits from the grunt labor.

Cinco Ranch defender Josh Reicks has the Cougars broken down into those groups entering this week’s state tournament, the school’s first.

Reicks, who plays both defense and midfield, is a carrier.

His co-captains, midfielders Juan Fernando Nino and Preston Davis, are players.

“You have to have the right mix of each in order to be a great team, and (they) definitely are players,” Reicks said.

The undefeated Cougars (22-0-6) won’t call themselves a great team at this stage, one day before their 5A state semifinal against defending champion Lewisville Flower Mound Marcus (24-3-3) at Round Rock. They may not do so even if they win out.

“We don’t have a 21-goal scorer or the big-name target guy … because everybody feeds off each other’s energy and everybody works with each other,” Cougars coach John Crow said.

Perhaps the one area of the team that’s taken them this far, however, is the midfield – guided by the three co-captains.

Davis, Cinco Ranch’s leading scorer with 19 goals, is unanimously agreed to be the quietest of the three.

Nino, the oldest of three brothers on the team, is the team leader in assists. He talks when necessary and, Reicks and Davis agree, has the best touch on the ball of any Cougar.

Reicks, by unanimous agreement, is the “facilitator.” A defender by trade and the link between the defense and attack, Cinco Ranch’s plays dictate his moving into the midfield from time to time.

“My job is to win tackles and make sure the midfield gets the ball, then get it to Nino through our forwards,” Reicks said. “I’ve become a better midfield player throughout the year; I’ve always been a defender in club by trade. I’ve become better on the ball.”

He's also the most vocal player.

“I guess you could call it yelling but it’s more instructing,” Reicks said, smiling.

Nino was more succinct.

“We’re screwed in the middle without his defensive work,” he said. “The other (day against Kingwood, a 3-2 win in the regional final) the work he did … he won every ball and he never let their midfielders do anything. His tackles, his headers – he won everything in the air.”

Similarly, Reicks heaped praise on Nino, calling his game-winning goal from Saturday’s regional final a prototypical play.

“What makes him special is he can change a game, like he did against Kingwood,” Reicks said. “(It was) a close game (2-1 at the time), a huge game and he puts it in the top corner from 25 yards out. You have to be a special player to do something like that, and he’s very special.

“He’s the kind of player that most great teams need. You need couple guys who can change a game like that.”

Not that opponents will know exactly who they are.

“The Internet is all over the place and our kids can go to other Web sites and see their players,” Crow said. “You go to our Web site and you don’t see that. You see scores but you don’t see individual stats or anything like that, and that’s the way this team wanted it. (Their attitude is) ‘It’s not about me, it’s about the team.’ We’re not saying it’s different with other teams, but that’s the way my team wants it. No one wants to be a glory hound. They don’t want the recognition; they want it for the team.

“This is a very tight group, and they’re excited. They’re ready to play.”

State tournament schedule
at Round Rock ISD Athletic Complex
BOYS
5A
Semifinals
Cinco Ranch (22-0-6) vs. Lewisville Flower Mound Marcus (24-3-3), 4 p.m. Thursday
Klein (19-2-2) vs. San Antonio Churchill (18-3-5), 6 p.m. Thursday
Championship
Semifinal winners, 1 p.m. Saturday

GIRLS
5A
Semifinals
San Antonio MacArthur (24-1-1) vs. Southlake Carroll (22-4-4), 11 a.m. Thursday
Clear Lake (21-3-4) vs. Plano East (23-3-3), 1 p.m. Thursday
Championship
Semifinal winners, 11 a.m. Saturday
4A
Semifinals
Wichita Falls Rider (29-0-1) vs. Dripping Springs (21-2-2), 11 a.m. Friday
McKinney Boyd (23-2-1) vs. Friendswood (24-1-5), 1 p.m. Friday
Championship
Semifinal winners, 4 p.m. Saturday

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