NORTH RICHLAND HILLS - Standing in the middle of the field following their win on Thursday night, not a frown could be found on the faces of the Argyle Eagles.
Surrounded by his players, Argyle head coach Marc Koke flashed a huge grin as he raised the bi-district trophy in his right hand.
The Eagles had every reason to be happy.
Argyle annihilated Mineral Wells 4-0 on Thursday night in the Class 4A Region I bi-district round of the boys soccer playoffs. It was Argyle's first playoff win in school history.
The Eagles will face Wichita Falls Hirschi on Tuesday in the next round of the playoffs.
"We played with a chip on our shoulder in district play, being the only 3A school in our district," Koke said. "Now we're in the 4A playoffs, and we're doing that same thing. A chip on our shoulder - a little 3A school."
Ironically, the Eagles (22-1-1) picked up the monumental win at the home of the Birdville Hawks, which handed Argyle the loss and tie on its record.
Throughout the brisk evening, Argyle dominated all aspects of the game. The closest Mineral Wells came to tallying a goal came with 10 minutes to go, as the Rams lobbed a shot that deflected off the crossbar. At that point, any point of a comeback seemed far from likely for the Rams, which had already surrendered four goals.
Coming into the contest, Argyle was ranked third in the area in total offense, averaging 4.2 goals per game. The offense did not disappoint, creating many scoring opportunities through its crisp play in the midfield.
Argyle's Mats Wolthuis opened the scoring in the seventh minute, smashing a cross from Chad Hedlund into the top of the net to put the Eagles up 1-0.
Ian Sadler scored the second goal of the game with more than 12 minutes to go in the first half. Sadler stormed down the middle of the field, shouldered off a defender's challenge and tucked the ball inside the far right post to give the Eagles a two-goal edge.
Sadler, a freshman, leads the team in scoring with 27 goals.
"I tell opposing coaches he's a freshman, and they don't believe me," Koke said. "He's an elite, elite player that we're lucky to have."
With his bright orange boots, Dylan Jourdan added two second-half goals for the Eagles, giving Argyle all the cushion it would need for the rest of the game. Sensing his team had the victory secured, Koke removed many of the starters, giving the team some rest before its next game.
At the beginning of the season, Koke said the team's goals included making the playoffs and picking up a postseason win. Following Argyle's regular season and tight district race, Koke feels like the team has more to accomplish.
"We want to make a run," Koke said. "We're not satisfied. We want to see how far we can take this thing."
Jourdan, like the rest of his teammates, couldn't help but innocently smile following the team's performance.
"It feels like we're all a big family," Jourdan said. "We've been playing with each other for so long, throughout this whole year."
