Jesuit Dallas quickly took command of Friday’s first-round soccer playoff match against South Grand Prairie.
The Rangers found the back of the net less than 10 minutes in and never looked back, storming out to a 3-0 halftime advantage before settling for a 3-1 margin in a bi-district contest of the Class 6A Division II playoffs at Irving’s Joy and Ralph Ellis Stadium.
With the win, Jesuit advances to the area round of the playoffs where it will square off against a Marcus team that blanked Prosper in the bi-district round, 4-0.
Jesuit enters the contest, slated for 7 p.m. Tuesday at The Colony, ranked sixth in the area by The Dallas Morning News, while Marcus entered the postseason ranked No. 2.
Jesuit will be seeking its third consecutive appearance in the regional semifinals after advancing to the state semis a year ago. The Rangers have also now won in the first round for six straight seasons.
On Friday, senior Cooper McGough opened the scoring at the 9:56 mark when he headed in a pass from Mason Farley.
Eleven minutes later, the Rangers doubled their lead on a goal by Wendorf before McGough provided Jesuit’s final goal on a penalty kick in the 36th minute.
Fouls were a theme of the night as the teams combined for 28, including seven cards.
Overall, Jesuit outshot South Grand Prairie, 13-4, and generated five corner kicks.
The Warriors didn’t get on the scoreboard until 4:34 remained in the second half courtesy of Nery Sanchez.
While Jesuit is moving on in 6A, W.T. White is bound for the area round in 5A after topping North Mesquite, 3-2, in a shootout in Division 1 Region 2.
The Longhorns will now face Midlothian at 8 p.m. Tuesday at Memorial Stadium in the area round.
WTW’s girls team, however, saw its season come to a close with a 1-0 loss to North Mesquite.
In Division 2, Hillcrest squared off against Woodrow Wilson in both the boys and girls brackets with the Panthers falling, 1-0, but the girls winning, 1-0.
Next up for the Lady Panthers is a date with Midlothian Heritage at 7:30 p.m. Monday at Kincaide Stadium in Dallas.
