On the evening of Tuesday, March 20, the varsity boys’ soccer team fought against the Pflugerville Panthers in the second round of district play, hoping to gain another win before closing out district season, unfortunately ending the game with a score of 3-1 favoring the Panthers. While the outcome wasn’t what the team had hoped for, the boys fought hard until the very end.

“I think we played a good game, just things weren’t going for us for the first half. The second half was much better for us, we scored and it was just unfortunate that we lost, but it was a good game from both sides,” Lalo Rodriguez ‘19 said.

Several passes were made by Nikola Djordjevic ‘21 to Skylar Cupit ‘18 and Jack Elliott ‘19, before Djordjevic attempted a goal with just two minutes into the game. This was followed by a successful steal of the ball by Rodriguez, who then attempted a kick at the goal with just 36:11 minutes left in the first half, initially preventing the Panthers from making a goal early on in the game. With the first half coming to a close, the Panthers managed to score a goal giving them a one-point advantage over the Warriors. This didn’t stop the Warriors from performing effective defensive strategies against the Panthers, as Philip Richardson ‘20 and Felipe Centeno ‘19 both assisted each other in defending the ball before Cupit successfully headed the ball after a Panther player’s kick. Then a tense moment played out in the last few minutes as Sam Helwig ‘19 came close to scoring a goal with just 5:37 left before the half, but was no-good due to a goalie interference, just inches from the goal. The first half ended with a score of 2-0,with the Panthers still ahead of the Warriors.

Going into the second half, the Warriors executed several plays against the Panthers offense, as Djordjevic attempted a goal with just 39:35 left in the game. While Centeno attempted to block a Panthers ball, Rodriguez successfully scored a goal for the Warriors on a free kick with 36:15 left in the second half, bringing the score to 2-1 with the Warriors behind by one point. As the game came to an end, the Panthers managed to score a goal immediately after a failed free kick that was successfully blocked by Anthony Brocato ‘18, giving the Panthers a two-point advantage over the Warriors, bringing the game to a score of 3-1 with 30:00 left in the game. Multiple attempts were made at the goal by Hilton Pineda ‘18, Rodriguez and Centeno in the last few minutes, but ultimately the game ended favoring the Panthers with a final score of 3-1.

“Pflugerville went in more; it’s their home field it’s their senior night. They had a lot more to play for than us, but we gave it everything we had. They were just a better team tonight,” Cade Freehill ‘18 said.

Catch the varsity boys’ at the Warrior Bowl on Friday, March 23, at 7:45 p.m. as they finish off their journey in the second round of district play, facing off against the Cedar Ridge Raiders.