On Tuesday, April 2, 2024, Wakeland soccer continued the climb to the state championship  with the girls winning 1-0 and the boys winning 4-1 against Walnut Grove High School in the regional quarterfinals. In the girls victory, freshman forward Dilan Pistorius helped the Wolverines to victory with a goal. In the boys victory, senior midfielder Thomas Hayes, junior midfielder Ayaan Roychoudhury, junior midfielder Jack Minsky, and senior defender Tanner Bowman each scored a goal.

“We fought harder than them, and we fought for every ball,” Roychoudhury said. “We worked as a team to build up the plays and did what we had to do to put it into the back of the net.”

“With the strong backline we have, everybody is really in sync, and we know how to play off each other,” junior goalkeeper Claire Manis said. “We know how to deal with high balls, and we’re really good with communication.”

In the girls game, sophomore midfielder Finley Mcknight crossed the ball into the middle before Pistorius had a one-touch finish into the left corner of the goal to put the Wolverines in front with 55 minutes played in the game. The girls then played strong defense and sustained the lead for the rest of the game.

“I was going to shoot, but then I saw Dilan open in the middle, so I just decided to pass,” Mcknight said. “I am just looking to see what forwards are making runs so that we can get opportunities to score.”

In the boys game, 38 minutes into the game, senior defender Brendan Fernandez threw in the ball before it went into the back of the net off of Hayes’ head, giving them a halftime lead. However, early in the second half, Walnut Grove scored to tie the game. Looking to regain the lead, Roychoudhury scored off an excellent finish.

“It felt really good because it was the beginning of the second half, and it was still a pretty close game at that point. That goal helped ease the tension a little bit,” Roychoudhury said.

Building on the lead, Minsky scored after a beautiful strike, and Bowman put a shot into the back of the net before the end of the game.

In the regional semifinals, the girls will play Lovejoy High School tomorrow at 1 p.m., and the boys will play McKinney North High School at 7 p.m. at Standridge Stadium. To support the teams, you can buy tickets at tickets.friscoisd.org.

“We just got to keep fighting, working hard, and working as a team,” Roychoudhury said.

“We need to keep our physical aspect, and we need to play our game,” Manis said. “We have to really focus on switching the ball and switching the play, making sure we’re marking everybody, and make sure we communicate really well.”