On Friday, April 5, 2024, Wakeland soccer advanced to the regional finals with two shutouts. For the girls, sophomore forward Morgan Landry led the way with two goals, and sophomore forward Audrey Gilbert and sophomore midfielder Finley Mcknight each scored a goal, contributing to a 4-0 victory against Lovejoy High School. For the boys, senior midfielder Thomas Hayes and junior midfielder Jack Minsky each put a shot into the back of the net, leading to a 2-0 victory against North McKinney High School.
“We started off slow and with low energy, so they kind of got the jump on us. It was a wake-up call that we couldn’t be complacent,” senior forward Frank Miller said. “Once all of us realized that, everybody started giving it their all, [and] we started to take over.”
In the girls game, Landry first found the back of the net off a header after a corner from sophomore defender Sophie Altieri with about 20 minutes left in the first half. Lovejoy’s defense then locked up any attacks from Wakeland for the rest of the half. However, Wakeland poured it on in the second half. With about 37 minutes left in the game, Landry had a one-touch pass to Gilbert before Gilbert put it into the left corner of the goal. Into the final three minutes of the game, Landry lined up to take a penalty and put the ball into the top left corner. With one minute and 42 seconds left, Mcknight beautifully struck the ball from outside of the box into the top corner, scoring the final goal of the game.
In the boys game, Hayes scored the first goal of the game, as he shot the ball into the right corner of the goal with about 13 minutes left in the first half. The next goal did not come until seven minutes left in the game with Minsky placing a shot into the right corner, clinching the win.
“It felt good to secure the win, but we quickly realized that [the] game was over, and we had to focus on the next game,” Miller said.
Both the girls and the boys will be playing in the regional finals today at Standridge Stadium with the girls playing against Reedy High School at 10 a.m. and the boys playing against West Mesquite High School at 1 p.m. Be sure to show your support and purchase tickets at tickets.friscoisd.org!
“We need to just come out with energy and not allow ourselves to think we’ve already won,” Miller said. “We have to treat every game like the state final if we want to win.”