Local boys soccer coach wins 500th career game
Aledo boys soccer head coach Derek Vierling won his 500th career game on Tuesday following the Bearcats’ 1-0 win over Midlothian Heritage.
Vierling is in his 24th season, and his 18th with Aledo. He also spent six seasons with Crowley.
Coming to Aledo in 2002, Vierling started the boys soccer program. Since then, the Bearcats have reached the playoffs 16 times in Vierling’s tenure. They only missed the postseason once (2015).
He also took over the girls program for eight seasons, starting in 2005. They made the postseason in all eight years and reached as far as the regional final in 2008. He coached Ashley Huhn that season. The 2008 graduate was a contestant on NBC’s Titan Games earlier this month.
The Aledo boys reached the state tourney in 2005 and 2018, both times finishing as runner-up. It has won at least one playoff game 14 times.
Aledo went 25-1-4 last season. This year, the Bearcats are 8-4-1. They’ll face Mineral Wells on Friday.
At Crowley, Vierling won his first game as the boys coach in 1995, but went on to lose 17-straight to finish the season when the Eagles were a 4A school and playing up a class. He coached Jamie Southern, who’s the head girls coach at South Hills. Southern became Vierling’s first all-state player.
This story was originally published January 30, 2019 at 4:17 PM.
