Murphy, Texas

Boys Soccer

Plano East’s postseason run comes to an end

Eagles’ late rally upends PESH 3-2
in third-round game

By Greg Ford
Sports Editor
gford@wylienews.com

It seemed that Plano East was all set to go to the regional soccer semifinal in Georgetown.

However, the bottom fell out during the final 20 minutes of its April 1 regional quarterfinal with Rowlett, as the Panthers surrendered two goals in 5:34, resulting in a 3-2 loss to the Eagles at Kimbrough Stadium.

East, which finished fourth in District 9-5A, advanced to the quarterfinals by defeating Sachse 3-1 and W.T. White 3-2.
“It was a heck of a year, a heck of a ride,” PESH head coach Rick Woodard said. “Nobody in the district, nobody around expected us to come through like we did. The boys showed a lot of heart and a lot of faith.”

The Panthers earned the district’s final playoff spot with a late-season push that saw them win four out of their last five 9-5A games.

“I couldn’t be more proud of the boys,” Woodard said. “We have been in playoff mode since there was about two and a half weeks left in district. The boys did everything they possibly could.”

East fell behind less than eight minutes into the game on a header shot, but then Peyton Hickey tied it with 8:52 remaining in the first off a feed from Ronnie Toupal.

The game remained deadlocked until Toupal got control of a loose ball and nailed a left-footed kick into the net with 21:54 left in the contest.

However, the Panthers relaxed a bit after that, resulting in Rowlett tying the game with 16:14 remaining. A short time later, Jacob Daly fired in a shot from the right side of the East goal for the game-winner.

“After we got our second goal, we kind of dropped back on our heels a little bit and let them attack, instead of continuing with the pressure,” Woodard said. “And then we couldn't get out of that mode.”

Woodard added, “I felt like we controlled (the flow) of the game. They took advantage of their shots … I know they didn’t have very many, but they took advantage of their shots, and that’s a credit to them.”

East made a final push in the last minute, during which Nick Amy appeared to get tripped up inside the goalie box, something that should have resulted in a penalty kick. However, no foul was called.

“I thought it was a (penalty kick),” Woodard said. “He came in from behind and clipped the heel. It wasn’t called, and that’s the breaks.”

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