Princeton junior Derek MIreles is congratulated by his teammates after he scores a goal against McKinney on Thursday. The Panthers defeated the Lions 4-1. Photo by Jerry Winfrey / C&S Media
By David Wolman
The Princeton boys soccer team was 25 seconds away from posting its fourth straight clean sheet.
However, Plano scored with time winding down and hung on to earn a 1-0 win over Princeton on Tuesday, Jan. 20.
Despite the loss, head coach Kent Ackmann praised his team’s overall performance, doing so against a Plano squad that had lost only one of its first 10 matches.
“The energy and willingness to cover and win duels has been outstanding all year, but it was particularly excellent versus Plano,” Ackmann said.
Eager to see how his team would respond to the last-second loss, Ackmann was more than thrilled with the response during last Thursday’s 4-1 road win at McKinney.
Princeton (5-3-2 overall, 3-1 District 6-6A) scored two goals in the last two minutes of the first half to seize the momentum. Junior Anthony Armijo earned a penalty kick after he was fouled. Junior Derek Mireles converted the PK for a 1-0 Panthers lead. The lead grew to 2-0 after sophomore Al Lopez found freshman Brayan Ordonez behind the Lions’ defense for Princeton’s second goal.
Three minutes into the second half, Princeton was awarded another penalty kick after senior Eric Bautista was fouled. Mireles again converted a one-on-one opportunity against the McKinney goalkeeper, increasing Princeton’s lead to 3-0.
The Lions scored on a free kick to make it 3-1.
Princeton restored its three-goal lead with 10 minutes left after Ordonez scored his second goal of the match. Senior Ryan Garcia set up the goal.
“Every year is different. Every group is different,” Ackmann said. “This year, we’ve been particularly dangerous on counterattacks. At any given moment, we’ve shown the ability to score quickly, as we did against McKinney when we scored two goals in the last two minutes of the first half.
“McKinney is solid defensively. They held Allen and Plano to a single goal in their previous two matches, so we were very pleased with scoring four against them.”
The Princeton Lady Panthers (1-7, 0-4) remain winless in district competition, but they are making their opponents earn every goal.
McKinney was held to one goal in the first half before scoring three times in the second half to earn a 4-0 road win over Princeton from Jackie Hendricks Stadium on Thursday.
“The girls played well defensively in that first half,” head coach Ryan Gerfers said. “Our backline is dealing with several injuries at the moment, and they really stepped up against a tough opponent.”
Earlier in the week, Princeton scored its first goal in district competition this season, albeit in a 4-1 road loss at Plano.
Senior captain Gabriella Trejo scored on a free kick from about 20 yards out.
Princeton will look to earn its first home win of the season next Tuesday night against Plano West. The Panther boys are in action that same night against Plano West with a 7:30 p.m. kickoff from Clark Stadium.
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