Boys soccer to face Mount Pleasant in third playoff match

Junior+Grant+Lange+and+Sophomore+Christian+Kwon+race+to+celebrate+after+beating+Prosper+in+a+penalty+shootout.

Emily Ottinger

Junior Grant Lange and Sophomore Christian Kwon race to celebrate after beating Prosper in a penalty shootout.

Matthew Fisher, Staff Reporter

The boys soccer team (13-4-5, 11-2-1) will face the Mt. Pleasant Tigers (19-1-5) tonight at 7 p.m. at Greenville High School for the third game of the playoffs after a close, but successful shootout with Prosper on Friday.

“They’re going to have a similar dynamic as Sulphur Springs, those types of kids who are technical on the ball,” coach Alex Duran said. “If they’re organized and stay organized they’ll be a tough opponent, but we’re tough so they better be ready. The biggest thing we’ll have to look out for is to not be caught ball-watching and be careful with that.”

Ranked 33rd in the state according to Maxpreps, the Tigers have momentum carrying into this game as they have beat Forney 2-0 and Creekview 3-1.

“It’s kind of a weird game since it’s a Tuesday, so we only have Monday to prepare,” junior Enrique Vega said. “Basically we went through a normal practice and worked on attacking their set pieces.”

The Leopards are still hanging on in the playoffs as they beat Prosper in a nail-biting shootout.

“It was a great feeling [beating Prosper] especially they’re our rivals. On top of that since it was in penalty kicks so it was really emotional,” sophomore Christian Kwon said. “Being able to push through the whole game and overtime was a key success.”

Sophomore Jackson Diamond came up clutch in this game as he had three saves in the shootout to secure the Leopards the win.

“I was obviously a little nervous,” Diamond said. “Keeble told me that the first guy was going to shoot to the left side and after that stop I was feeling more confident. Most of them are right-footed so I watched how they lined up, most of it was complete guessing. After that final save I knew it was over.”

If the Leopards pull out this win they will play the winner between Midlothian (8-3-3) and Conrad (16-0) at Standridge Stadium in Carrollton at 4 p.m. on Friday, March 7.