Boys soccer reflects on close loss at McKinney North

Drew Gager, Staff Writer • February 21, 2020

Junior Sammy Merrick makes a save in the box during the second half.

The boys soccer team (9-3-3, 4-1) lost on Tuesday in an away district game to the McKinney North Bulldogs (7-6-4, 3-2). The final score of the game was 1-2 with Lovejoy’s only goal scored by junior Cade Novicke.

Head coach Alex Duran acknowledged McKinney North’s team emphasizing the effects of even a few mistakes against a good team.

“When you play against a good team a few mistakes will hurt you,” Duran said. “That is what occurred last night. It serves as a reminder and a lesson that I know will serve us well in the long run.”

Junior goalie Sammy Merrick said he was unhappy with the way the game was reffed and that one of the calls cost them the game.

“I was most disappointed with the amount of fouls we gave up,” Merrick said. “The entire game we just kept fouling and unfortunately the ref called more for them then us and one of the fouls cost us the game.”

Sophomore forward Abhi Rajaiyan said that the team gets “hungrier” when facing a better team.

“Being winless against McKinney North in the past two years didn’t really change our mentality and mindset going into the game,” Rajaiyan. “Looking back at our game on Tuesday night I really thought that we came into the game with lots of hunger and energy. Playing against McKinney North Tuesday night was a game that everyone was hyped up for and it did change how we played. We came up with more intensity, more energy and more hunger to redeem ourselves for the last two years.”

Duran said he is not worried about the future competition and eventually having to go up against McKinney North later in the season.

“The boys fought and we knew it would come down to the wire,” Duran said. “We are still in first place [despite] the loss [with] the second round of district starting next week. We went 4-1 the first round and if we do the same [during the second round] we will be just fine.”

Rajaiyan hopes to improve offensively as a team so they can come out and prove their worth the next time they play against a good team.

“Things that we can do to improve how we play against teams like McKinney North is to be moving the ball from the defense to the midfield and out wide to our wingers so that we can try and get crosses and opportunities to put the ball in the back of the net,” Rajaiyan said.

The Leopards’ next game will be Tuesday at 7 p.m. against Wyllie East.

About the Contributors

Drew Gager, Staff Writer

During his first year with The Red Ledger, sophomore Drew Gager will contribute as a staff writer. His hobbies include golfing and playing video games. He loves to watch football and wants to be a NFL analyst when he grows up. He joined The Red Ledger staff so he could pursue his dreams to be on ESPN and talk about football all day long.. His favorite movie is “Hateful Eight” and he doesn’t have a favorite actor because he believes Samuel L. Jackson, Will Smith, and Denzel Washington are all the best actors of all time. He plans on going to Oklahoma University to major in journalism. After Drew has made five hundred billion dollars doing something (to be determined), he will spend it all on junk food. Drew is a part of a big family at home. He has two sisters and one brother at home, and he knows being a part of The Red Ledger family will be a great experience.

Grace Nguyen, Section Editor

Fueled daily by three iced vanilla coffees, standing at 5’2”, Grace Nguyen will walk into the E103 door with no problem. Grace is entering senior year, and the only reason she is believed to have survived high school is because of the napping couch in the photography studio. During her time on staff, Grace has been to almost every football game, win or loss, and wouldn’t have changed a thing. Yes, Grace has been tackled by football players, run over by coaches, and body slammed by referees. Nonetheless, Grace will confidently walk on the field this year, bruises and all, alongside her sideline media team. Stepping outside the newsroom, which is rare, Grace enjoys playing softball, hanging out with family and friends, and finding excuses to go to every $3 Pazookie Tuesdays at BJ’s. After high school, Grace hopes to pursue a career in sports photojournalism, so watch out for her still getting run over by athletes on ESPN in the years to come. Although it’s bittersweet to leave newspaper upon graduation, Grace is thankful for all the opportunities that she’s had on staff. Through The Red Ledger, Grace created long-lasting friendships and won a lot of awards that she never imagined was possible. Grace hopes that current and future staffers will think of this national-award-winning publication the same way as she did–a second family and their home away from home.