DALLAS, Texas – The Forney Jackrabbits lost a coin flip for home field advantage against the Hillcrest Panthers in their area playoff game, following a bye for each team in the first round. Therefore, the Jackrabbits traveled to the Preston Hollow area of North Dallas to face the fifth-ranked Panthers in a UIL Class 4A area playoff game on Friday night.
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The Panthers came into the game with a 24-1-2 record and sporting a stingy defense ranked first in the area allowing only .3 goals per game. The defense was complemented by the 6th best offense that featured the 3rd and 7th leading scorers in the DFW area.
Forney came into the game featuring the #1 offense in the area with a 4.5 goals per game average, led by leading area scorer Dominick Faletto (36 goals, 8 assists). In contrast, the Jackrabbit defense was ranked last in the area giving up 3.3 goals per game.
Coach Kris Duplissey made the tactical decision to flip for home field advantage as opposed to settling for a neutral site. Duplissey explained his decision to inForney.com by saying, "Well, we play really good at home, but even if we lost the flip, we had an advantage here. So it was a win-win situation." The coin toss went in favor of the Panthers. That was also where it stopped.
The first seven minutes of the game favored the Panthers who held a decisive possession time advantage. But then things changed. The "advantage" Duplissey spoke of was a combination of the narrower than normal field along with Forney's unique ability to get longer than average throw-ins from several Jackrabbits. Junior defender Cory Marr took a throw-in from 15 yards out and chunked it straight towards the Panther goal. The ball essentially "skipped" off the head of Austin Wells and continued its path straight to the goal. Wells' header gave the ball just enough misdirection and additional height to get it past the goalkeeper for a 1-0 Jackrabbit score.
That was the only score the Jackrabbit offense could muster the rest of the match, despite several good scoring chances in the first half with the wind at their backs. In the end, the one goal was enough. The Jackrabbit defense outplayed their counterparts and goalkeeper Tristen Putnam ended the game with a clean sheet, securing the Jackrabbit 1-0 victory.
The defense played so well in the first half, Putnam only had to make three saves. Given that the Panthers held a possession advantage, only three shots on goals speaks to how the backline kept the Panther attack off balance in the final third of the field. The Jackrabbits seemed content to allow the Panthers control of the middle third of the field, knowing the stout backline would repel all challenges.
The last several minutes of the second half were exciting and dangerous for the Forney faithful in the stands. The Panthers mounted a furious attack as the entire team pushed forward. Several corner kicks and bouncing balls in the box allowed Hillcrest some scoring chances, but each was repelled. With less than 2 minutes to go, a shot from Hillcrest got past Putnam, hit a post, deflected off his back and went into the net for an apparent goal. As the Hillcrest fans exploded, the referee conferred with his assistant referee from the Hillcrest side and they correctly determined the ball deflected off the football crossbar, therefore making the ball dead and giving Forney a goal kick. The sigh of relief from the Forney fans was deep and exhausting.
Forney will advance to sectional playoffs next week against Molina who defeated West Mesquite at Highland Park tonight. Stay tuned to inForney.com for scheduling information for next week's game.
Forney came into the game featuring the #1 offense in the area with a 4.5 goals per game average, led by leading area scorer Dominick Faletto (36 goals, 8 assists). In contrast, the Jackrabbit defense was ranked last in the area giving up 3.3 goals per game.
Coach Kris Duplissey made the tactical decision to flip for home field advantage as opposed to settling for a neutral site. Duplissey explained his decision to inForney.com by saying, "Well, we play really good at home, but even if we lost the flip, we had an advantage here. So it was a win-win situation." The coin toss went in favor of the Panthers. That was also where it stopped.
The first seven minutes of the game favored the Panthers who held a decisive possession time advantage. But then things changed. The "advantage" Duplissey spoke of was a combination of the narrower than normal field along with Forney's unique ability to get longer than average throw-ins from several Jackrabbits. Junior defender Cory Marr took a throw-in from 15 yards out and chunked it straight towards the Panther goal. The ball essentially "skipped" off the head of Austin Wells and continued its path straight to the goal. Wells' header gave the ball just enough misdirection and additional height to get it past the goalkeeper for a 1-0 Jackrabbit score.
That was the only score the Jackrabbit offense could muster the rest of the match, despite several good scoring chances in the first half with the wind at their backs. In the end, the one goal was enough. The Jackrabbit defense outplayed their counterparts and goalkeeper Tristen Putnam ended the game with a clean sheet, securing the Jackrabbit 1-0 victory.
The defense played so well in the first half, Putnam only had to make three saves. Given that the Panthers held a possession advantage, only three shots on goals speaks to how the backline kept the Panther attack off balance in the final third of the field. The Jackrabbits seemed content to allow the Panthers control of the middle third of the field, knowing the stout backline would repel all challenges.
The last several minutes of the second half were exciting and dangerous for the Forney faithful in the stands. The Panthers mounted a furious attack as the entire team pushed forward. Several corner kicks and bouncing balls in the box allowed Hillcrest some scoring chances, but each was repelled. With less than 2 minutes to go, a shot from Hillcrest got past Putnam, hit a post, deflected off his back and went into the net for an apparent goal. As the Hillcrest fans exploded, the referee conferred with his assistant referee from the Hillcrest side and they correctly determined the ball deflected off the football crossbar, therefore making the ball dead and giving Forney a goal kick. The sigh of relief from the Forney fans was deep and exhausting.
Forney will advance to sectional playoffs next week against Molina who defeated West Mesquite at Highland Park tonight. Stay tuned to inForney.com for scheduling information for next week's game.