Organizers of the first Brazos Valley Cup touted the opportunity to play at the Aggie Soccer Stadium. The tournament will finish on the Texas A&M campus again this year, and the second edition has another selling point.
Two teams that played in last year's BV Cup went on to play for the state championship.
Defending Class 4A state champion Richardson Pearce will return to defend its tournament title as the Brazos Valley Cup begins Thursday. Friendswood, which dropped a 1-0 decision to Pearce in the state final, also returns as part of a 16-team field that will play 27 matches over three days.
The host team from Bryan will open the tournament by playing Houston Reagan at Merrill Green Stadium at 7 p.m. Thursday.
Each team will play at least three matches in the event, which will use a double-elimination bracket format. The consolation final, third-place match and championship will be at the Aggie Soccer Stadium on Saturday.
"The big push is to try to make it to one of those games where you get to play at the Aggie field," Bryan coach Amy Pettibone said. "That's the same place the [NCAA] national championship was just played, and how many girls are going to get that opportunity?"
Bryan will bring a 5-2-1 record into the BV Cup. The Lady Vikings began their first season under Pettibone by winning a tournament in Galveston, but last weekend Bryan failed to score a goal while going 0-2-1 at the I-10 Shootout.
The Lady Vikings hope Pettibone can lead their young program past the first round of the state playoffs for the first time.
"The lesson that we learned from the weekend is you have to take advantage of your opportunities," Pettibone said. "We played three teams that have the experience of going deep into the playoffs. We can hang with them, and we could have beat some of them. I think it gave the girls the opportunity to see what the level has to be to get past the first round of the playoffs."
All-tournament passes will cost $10. Tickets for individual matches will be $5 for adults and $3 for students.
These are Thursday's first-round pairings:
* at Merrill Green Stadium -- Richardson Pearce vs. College Park, 3 p.m.; Richland vs. McAllen Rowe, 5 p.m.; Houston Reagan at Bryan, 7 p.m.
* at Sam Rayburn Middle School -- Dickinson vs. Round Rock, 3 p.m.; Canyon Randall vs. Austin SFA, 5 p.m.; Allen vs. Katy, 7 p.m.
* at Davila Middle School -- Lucas Lovejoy vs. Friendswood, 5 p.m.; Gregory-Portland vs. Brownwood, 7 p.m.