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2009 YEAR IN REVIEW: Wranglers’ boys soccer team continue history making run with playoff win
By DEVIN HASSON/Staff Writer
dhasson@acnpapers.com
Note: This week, The Mesquite News will be looking back at some of the top Sports stories from the past year.
During a three-week stretch in March, nearly every thing the West Mesquite boys soccer team did wrote a new chapter to their program.
With that goal achieved, West Mesquite took the dream season a step further when it posted a 1-0 victory over Thomas Jefferson in a Class 4A area round playoff game at Homer B. Johnson Stadium.
For a program that has seen its share of struggles over the years, it was fitting that the win did not come easy.
The Wranglers got off to a slow start but were able to withstand Thomas Jefferson’s early charge.
West Mesquite got stronger as the game progressed and turned up the pressure in the second half. That finally paid off with two minutes left when Emerson Manzanares broke free on a sideline run and feathered a perfect cross to Luis Tamez, who placed the shot just over the keeper’s head in what proved to be the decisive goal.
“I think we had some playoff jitters and the first 20 minutes we didn’t play very well,” West Mesquite head coach Alex Figert said. “We got better during the final 20 minutes of the half and then made some adjustments at halftime and played a lot better from there. We kept at it and fortunately were able to get one at the end.”
“This is huge and it is really the result of two years of hard work,” Figert said. “These guys have worked hard during the Summer Pride workouts with the football team, they ran cross country and made the regional meet for the first time in the fall. They really deserve it for all the hard work they have put in.”
There were signs early on that West Mesquite had what it took to make history. Just a couple of weeks into the season, the Wranglers claimed the silver division championship at the Skeeter Cup, defeating Rowlett in a shootout in the title game.
“I thought that was big because we beat Mesquite and Rowlett in the same day and those were not teams that other people thought we were supposed to beat,” Figert said. “Last year we beat who we were supposed to beat and lost to who we were supposed to, so that kind of win was really what we looking for.”
While that was one of the highlights of the season, the biggest moment occurred when the team was at its lowest.
After finishing the first half of district play in second place, the Wranglers hit the road to take on Royse City, which had not won a 23-4A game to that point. But Royse City came to play and ended up pulling a 2-1 upset.
West Mesquite was at a crossroads, but rather than back down, it rose to the challenge. After a team meeting on the following Monday, the Wranglers took the field the next day against cross-town rival Poteet and ended up pulling out a shootout win.
“I really thought the loss to Royse City was the turning point. We didn’t play well in that game and I think it woke us up,” Figert said. “It was devastating but we came back this next week and said God has given us the lemons and we’re going to make lemonade and that was really our theme for the rest of the year.
“We came back the next day and were able to beat Poteet in the best match we played all year and then we beat Forney, 4-0, later than week and that got us rolling again.”
West Mesquite would go on to advance all the way to the regional semifinals before its playoff journey came to an end at the hands of Poteet.
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