Looking to build on the successful regular season, the Wakeland boys soccer team started off the playoffs strong with a 4-0 victory against Liberty High School in the Bi-District Championship on Tuesday, March 26, 2024. In the win, junior midfielder Jack Minsky scored two goals, Liberty had an own goal, and junior winger Tyler Staner scored a goal.
“[We did a good job of] forcing the ball in their half, not letting them play in our half, and pressing their backline [to] force them into bad decisions,” sophomore winger Cameron Warner said.
With about 12 minutes left in the first half, Warner saw Minsky making a run and sent a through ball before Minsky put it into the right corner of the goal.
“I tried to play it to where he can only get it, not the defenders, and timed it, so he’s not offside,” Warner said.
Six minutes later, Minsky found himself in the box again but was fouled. He then lined up to take the penalty and shot it into the same spot, the right corner, giving them a two-goal lead at halftime.
“We moved the ball really well, and Jack Minsky scored some amazing goals,” senior defender Brendan Fernandez said. “We have really good chemistry, so we know where everyone is on the field.”
During the second half, it was mostly a stalemate until sophomore forward Luke Lacy took a strike inside the box that deflected off a Liberty defender before going into the back of the net with less than 15 minutes left in the game. Before the end of the game, Staner scored into the left corner.
“It felt good to just score because I had not been scoring very much,” Staner said.
With the shutout in this game, it was the second consecutive game of not conceding any goals, and they have not given up more than a goal since the 2-0 loss to Plano West High School on January 18, 2024.
“We have a really big backline, and we know how to defend very well together,” Fernandez said. “We’re good as a unit back there.”
The next playoff game will be the Area Championship against Mesquite Poteet High School tonight at 7:30 p.m. at Wakeland, and tickets are available for purchase at tickets.friscoisd.org.
“We need to continue to connect passes and make sure we’re switching the ball from one side to the other,” Warner said.
