For Mansfield Lake Ridge, a week of victory and sorrow
Though the Mansfield Lake Ridge boys and girls teams were both celebrating wins Tuesday night that moved them into the regional tournament, the players were still mourning a loss.
Late last week, 16-year-old Carlos Alejandro Perez, a freshman player on the junior varsity team, died while swimming in the Gulf of Mexico on a school trip to Galveston.
“When something like that happens it affects the whole school, the team, the program,” boys coach Cory Elolf said. “It affects people in different ways. Some kids on the team were very close to him.”
In the past week we’ve had a broad range of emotions to deal with. I would say it’s just been difficult. For the whole school, really.
Mansfield Lake Ridge boys soccer coach Cory Elolf
Elolf said the school learned of the news on Friday, and he informed the team shortly after a victory over Tyler in an area-round match.
The team attended a memorial Mass for Perez on Monday night, then turned around on Tuesday and played defending state 5A champion Lufkin.
The Eagles prevailed 1-0.
“In the past week we’ve had a broad range of emotions to deal with,” Elolf said. “I would say it’s just been difficult. For the whole school, really.”
The Lake Ridge boys (21-4-0) face Frisco Wakeland (22-0-1) at 1 p.m. Friday at Standridge Stadium in Carrollton. The Lake Ridge girls (17-4-3) follow against Frisco Centennial (19-2-2) at 4 p.m.
Grapevine teams advance
Lake Ridge is one of just two local schools to advance both boys and girls teams to regionals. The other is Grapevine.
The Lake Ridge and Grapevine girls teams are both back for the second consecutive year, while both boys teams were ousted in the area round last season. The Grapevine girls (17-6-3) advanced to the state tournament a year ago while Lake Ridge lost in the regional semifinal.
Both Grapevine boys and girls knocked off Wichita Falls on Tuesday in the regional quarterfinal, and for boys coach Heath Bullard, who has announced he’s retiring after this season, it means at least one more game.
“I guess I’m not done yet,” Bullard said following his team’s 1-0 win on Tuesday.
Legacy returns
The Mansfield Legacy girls are also back in the regional tournament for the second straight year after blanking Sulphur Springs 2-0 on Tuesday.
The Broncos (17-4-1) advanced to the regional tournament for the first time in program history a year ago, and coach Heather Wilson said they played as if it was their first time.
“We were a young team last year and really wide-eyed,” Wilson said.
Legacy lost 3-0 to eventual state champion Wylie East in that regional semifinal last year, but Wilson expects a better performance when the Broncos face Frisco (21-2-2) at 7 p.m. Friday in this year’s semifinal.
“I think it’ll be an advantage just having been there before because it won’t be as overwhelming,” Wilson said.
Legacy hasn’t lost a match since a 1-0 loss to Lake Ridge on Feb. 9.
“We just kept getting better every game,” Wilson said. “Which is where you want to be rolling into the playoffs.”
This story was originally published April 6, 2016 at 9:28 PM with the headline "For Mansfield Lake Ridge, a week of victory and sorrow."