On Tuesday, March 19, 2024, the Wakeland boys soccer team finished district play strong in a 6-0 victory against The Colony High School, with goals from junior midfielder Jack Minsky, senior defender Brendan Fernandez, junior midfielder Ayaan Roychoudhury, and junior forward Luke Lacy. With the win, the team solidified their position as first place in district and are now headed to the playoffs yet again.

“You’ve got some guys that are starting to click now. We’re starting to get the offensive players that are getting in the right spots, and the passes are connecting. They’re getting on the same page with their runs,” assistant coach Esfandiary said. “That’s providing some good success on the attacking third, and through success, [we] get more confidence.”

In the early minutes of the first half, the Wolverines got out to an early lead with Minsky scoring two goals. On Minsky’s first goal, he made a solo effort towards the goal and dribbled past The Colony’s defenders before scoring. On Minsky’s second goal, senior midfielder Thomas Hayes connected with him before Minsky found the back of the net. Before the end of the first half, senior midfielder Tanner Bowman setup Fernandez for a goal, extending their halftime lead to three goals.

“We were just having fun and working together as a team,” Roychoudhury said. “Everything was just clicking.”

Looking to expand their lead, the Wolverines continued to be relentless in creating scoring opportunities in the final third. With about 33 minutes left of the game, Minsky tried to make a move past The Colony’s defense inside the box but was fouled, giving the Wolverines a penalty. Minsky then lined up to take it and shot the ball into the right corner, giving him a hat trick on the night.

“It was not that much pressure because we were up by a lot, but it felt good [to get a hat trick],” Minsky said.

Keeping the pressure on, in the next couple minutes, Roychoudhury found a little space from outside of the box and beautifully placed the ball into the top left corner of the goal.

“It was with my weak foot, and it just felt really good [to score in] the last game of the season,” Roychoudhury said.

Into the last five minutes of the game, senior winger Tripp Watson found Lacy making a run into the box and crossed it before Lacy put the ball into the left corner of the goal.

“I don’t have as many goals as some of the other guys on the team, so it was a pretty big personal accomplishment,” Lacy said.

Looking ahead to the playoffs, the Wolverines will begin their postseason run against Liberty High School after Heritage High School was forced to forfeit seven games because of the participation of an ineligible player. Due to residency requirements, this athlete was ruled to not be eligible for varsity sports, as he used an incorrect address. To be enrolled at Heritage, he claimed to live in a home in the Heritage zone despite living in the Panther Creek zone. Moving on from the drama, the Wolverines have shifted their focus to their actual opponent.

“With Liberty being pushed up to fourth place because of Heritage dropping out, it puts us against a tough team still,” Esfandiary said. “It’s weird to say that Liberty’s a fifth place team when they’re not…On film, they look a lot better than fifth place.”

The first playoff game will take place on Tuesday, March 26, 2024 at 7:30 p.m. at Independence High School, and tickets will be available for purchase at tickets.friscoisd.org.

“From here, it’s a game of heart. It’s [about] who wants it more. It’s now single elimination. [If] you lose a game, that’s it, [and] your season is over,” Esfandiary said. “In my years of coaching and seeing teams going through the playoffs, the ones that make it the furthest are the ones that have the biggest internal drive.”