Highland Park’s season ended in a flash of red.

In a sectional round playoff match against undefeated McKinney Friday night that dragged into overtime, Lions forward Oscar Martinez was pushed from behind by defender Alex Hoyl as he chased a ball toward the Scots goal with seven minutes to go.

Hoyl drew a red card to put Highland Park a man down and set up a game-winning free kick for McKinney. Lions forward Erik Mendoza took the shot, which he drilled into the back of the net to seal his team's 2-1 victory.

“It was a great feeling,” Mendoza said. “I felt like I was going to score, because that's all I practice.”

Coming into overtime, McKinney head coach Alan Pocock told his players if they wanted to win, someone was going to have to step up and make a breakthrough play.

So, Mendoza did.

“He couldn't have placed it better,” Pocock said.

McKinney (20-0-1) cruised into the third postseason round with wins over Frisco Liberty, 5-0, and Richardson Pearce, 2-0. The win over Pearce was the Lions’ first playoff victory at Ron Poe Stadium.

The Scots, in contrast, squeaked through the bidistrict and area round with 1-0 overtime wins over Sulphur Springs and Frisco. They entered the playoffs as the fourth seed from District 20-4A, a district Pearce won.

“They didn't play anywhere near a fourth-place team,” Pocock said.

Considering the outcomes of their earlier games, suffocating defense from the Scots was the expectation. Early on, it wasn’t met.

McKinney got on the board in the 9th minute when Martinez finished a lobbed pass from Mendoza in midair to put the Lions up 1-0.

The Lions tried to keep the pressure up, working inside the Scots defense to set up opportunities and pop off the occasional shot from distance, as when Conrod Goulbourne fired from about 35 yards out on a kick that sailed just over the goal. But Highland Park matched McKinney’s pace with an offense led by Sam Hayward. In both the Scots previous playoffs wins, Hayward provided the lone goal, and he came close to scoring in the first half on a direct free kick he tried to send over the head of McKinney keeper Brett Villareal. But Villareal jumped and pushed the ball over the bar.

It was back and forth soccer from there that neglected the midfield and played out deep in both teams’ territory.

Traveling from one end to the other, the Lions and Scots traded shots and Hayward got another free kick late in the half that he sent with equal speed toward the goal. This time it went in.

It was the first goal McKinney had given up in five games.

“You can't let that get to your head,” Villareal said, “because as soon as you let it get to your head, it's game over.”

Part of McKinney's defensive woes came from the absence of starters Grant Sigler, who sat out after drawing a red card late in the Pearce match, and Jose Hernandez, who left Friday's game in the first half with a back injury. Andrew Mills, who was called up from the JV team for the playoffs, went in for Hernandez.

“That's awesome to be able to scoop somebody in there to cover for that,” Pocock said. “I thought [Mills] did fabulous.”

Heading into the second half, both teams were in a situation they hadn’t faced this postseason. Highland Park hadn't scored a goal in regulation, and McKinney hadn't been anything less than ahead at halftime.

“In my opinion, Highland Park was all over us first half,” Pocock said.

The Lions responded by staying aggressive. Led by Martinez, they tried to force the Scots to keep on the defensive, but the match stayed a dogfight. McKinney almost netted another goal in the 63rd minute when the Highland Park keeper blocked a shot but let it bounce away from him, forcing him to chase it down before any Lions player could finish.

The Scots packed their team around the goal, making another opportunity hard to come by. And with Hayward staying forward, McKinney couldn’t neglect its own back line. But after a pair of Highland Park shots in early in the half, the Lions kept consistent control of the ball. They pulled ahead of the Scots in the shot count, ending with 11 to their nine, and looked dead set on keeping the match out of overtime – Highland Park’s comfort zone.

“We knew coming in it was going to be a rough night for us no matter who we're playing,” Pocock said. “It's the third round of the playoffs. This is a proven team, Highland Park, that belongs here.”

But it was McKinney that had to withstand a last-ditch onslaught as the Scots made one final attempt to end the game on time. Lions keeper Corbin Whan kept the match scoreless, though, by jumping into a swarm of players (as he did several times in the second half) to disrupt a late corner kick and ensure Highland Park’s last playoff match was headed for overtime.

With the win, the Lions advance to a regional quarterfinals match against Lovejoy, who beat Mesquite Poteet 4-0 Friday in the teams' sectional match. When Pocock heard how the Leopards' match was going, he said it was a huge surprise.

If the Lions hope to push deeper into the playoffs, they'll have to make sure the same sort of surprise doesn't happen to them next week.

“We want to go to state, but we're taking it one game at a time,” Villareal said. “We're not looking past the rounds or anything. It's one game at a time.”

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