Panthers looking for redemption vs. Duncanville

The Colleyville Heritage boys soccer team ended the season on a high note with a 2-1 victory against Richland on Friday, and now the Panthers have their sights set on the team that eliminated them from the playoffs last season, Duncanville.

Coach Adam Phillips said he believes his team matches up well with Duncanville and said his players are ready for a chance at some redemption.

“I think we match up pretty good,” Phillips said. “I saw them play over spring break, and they are good. Of course, all teams are going to be good in the playoffs. But I think that we have a solid team all the way around from our goaltending all the way up to the top.”

Phillips said the victory over Richland was a good win for his team because it allowed the Panthers to do a little bit of evaluating prior to heading into the playoffs.

“I think we did really well,” Phillips said. “I think we passed the ball well. We tried a few different formations and tried some players in different areas. That allowed us to prepare for Duncanville and see what might work for us in different situations against them. It was a good game for us because it allowed us to do that – different opportunities for different styles of play.”

Colleyville Heritage wrapped up district competition with a 9-3 overall record, and Phillips said he is pleased with the season as a whole.

“You always want to finish first, of course, but I'm really happy with our position,” Phillips said. “Every game we competed in we were competitive except one, which was the first time we played Coppell and they jumped on us early. In our two other losses, I thought we played well.

“The difference between this year and last year is that last year, if a player didn't perform well, we didn't necessarily have someone to step up and pick up the slack. This year, our goal scorers are all over the place, and you never know where a player is going to step up every night. That's a good thing.”

In order to have a good run into the postseason, Phillips said it will take a couple of things.

“We are going to have total commitment for every play, every second,” Phillips said. “In district, you make a mistake and you can get away with it, because you'll see them again, or if you don't see them again, you'll have the leeway of four teams making the playoffs. But in the playoffs, just one team moves on, so your mistakes are magnified, and your opportunities are a little bit tighter.”

Colleyville will play Duncanville in the opening round of the playoffs at a time, date and location to be determined.

Mustangs prep for playoffs

Over at Grapevine, the Mustangs wrapped up the season on Friday night with a 1-0 victory over Eastern Hills, and coach Heath Bullard said his team played pretty well.

“It was good game,” Bullard said. “We had some chances early that we missed, but for the most part, we played well.”

Bullard said the team is having some health and injury issues heading into the playoffs and said the team will be a bit banged up, but said he does feel his team matches up well with Azle.

“I think that we match up well, it's just a matter of can we stay healthy enough to stay with them,” Bullard said.

Grapevine opens the playoffs against Azle at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday at Saginaw High School.

This story was originally published March 23, 2015 at 4:09 PM with the headline "Panthers looking for redemption vs. Duncanville."