Both the boys and girls soccer teams had a strong start to the playoffs, advancing to the third round. The girls team is coming off a 1-0 win in double overtime against Clark, with freshman Jacklyn Dashnaw scoring the winning goal with a penalty kick. Their opening round playoff win against Austin High was quite similar to the Clark game, resulting in a 1-0 win with Dashnaw scoring the lone goal. Typically in high school sports, seniors have the flashiest statistics, but this team has been led in the points category by three non-seniors: juniors Eva Pensamiento and Brooke Cansler, as well as Dashnaw. In the third round of playoffs, the group hit the field against Veterans Memorial on Friday, March 27, at 7 p.m. The game occured at Veterans Memorial Stadium, and the Vipers came away with a 2-1 win. Veterans Memorial is ranked 198 spots lower than Vandegrift in the MaxPreps rankings, but anything can happen in the playoffs.

As for the boys team, they are fresh off a 4-0 win against Churchill. The boys team outscored their last four opponents by a combined score of 11-0. After winning state last year, the group finished with a 16-4-4 record and a second place finish in district behind Westwood. In contrast to the girls team who has 10 seniors, the boys program has a whopping 15 seniors on the roster, making up almost two-thirds of the entire team. The boys faced off against Edinburg North (12-9) at 7:30 p.m. last Friday at Alamo Stadium, emerging victorious with a score of 1-0. Similar to the girls’ team, there is a stark difference in team rankings, with Vandegrift being ranked No. 45 in Texas and Edinburg coming in at No. 237. Both teams are now returning to the regional finals round of the playoffs for the second consecutive year.