On Tuesday, March 26, 2024, the Wakeland girls soccer team attained the first victory on the road to state in a dominating 4-0 win over Lebanon Trail High School in the Bi-District Championship. The Wolverines were led by sophomore defender Sofia Rodriguez, sophomore forward Morgan Landry, senior winger Dayleigh Bos, and sophomore forward Audrey Gilbert with a goal each.

“We did a good job of working together and pushing through the whole game,” Rodriguez said. “We practice shooting a lot and that really helps us show it in game.”

In the first half, the Wolverines were the first ones to find the back of the net off a strike from Rodriguez from about 25 yards out. Landry then added another goal before the end of the half, giving them a two-goal lead at halftime.

“It felt so nice [to score], especially because it was the first one. I think that was a momentum changer,” Rodriguez said.

Looking to build on the lead, in the first 10 minutes of the second half, Bos scored off  a great feed from Landry. Into the closing minute of the game, Landry setup another teammate for a goal with Gilbert scoring.

“It felt good to score in a playoff game and to make the [lead] even more,” Gilbert said.

With the playoffs being single elimination, the players deal with the pressure of knowing that each game could be the last.

“It was definitely a big change. Everyone is a lot more involved,” Gilbert said. “You know if you don’t get the job done, this will be your last game, so it makes everyone work 10 times harder.”

The next playoff game will be against W. T. White High School tonight at 6 p.m. at John Clark Stadium in Plano, and tickets will be available for purchase at tickets.friscoisd.org.

“We just need to keep playing how we usually are–aggressive–and finish our chances,” Rodriguez said.