In an immensely physical, hard-fought contest, Jesuit Dallas broke through with two late second half goals to defeat McKinney, 2-0, in the first of two championship semifinals of the 2023 Jesuit-Meintser Soccer Invitational on Friday afternoon at Ranger Stadium. Jesuit will advance to play Skyline in the final, who came storming back to defeat Plano, 2-1, in the second semifinal.

Junior Caleb Fisher scored his second goal of the year in the 59th minute, finishing a corner kick chance that was taken by senior Erwin Ordaz and deflected by senior James McCrea to land at the feet of Fisher. The junior launched the ball from 18-yards out into the left side of the net to break a scoreless tie. Senior Josh Roppolo scored his first goal of the year minutes later, finishing a great chance that saw senior Hugh Rudnicki take the ball deep inside the box before finding a rushing Roppolo near the left post for the critical insurance goal.

Senior Cole Hines recorded two saves in the second half, making a strong save in the 68th minute before a highlight-reel stop off of a well-hit McKinney shot in the waning moments of the contest. Senior Chris Rodriguez played in goal for the first half of the bout, keeping the Lions off of the scoreboard. Jesuit out-shot McKinney, 10-8, as the Ranger defense held the Lions to only two shots on goal. Senior Jason Ogbolu nearly gave Jesuit a 1-0 lead early in the contest, taking a shot in the 10th minute that ricocheted off of the upper right corner post.

The Rangers and Raiders will meet in the title game at 4 p.m. on Saturday, as Jesuit will look to secure its first Meintser Tournament title since the 2016 season with a win, and will look to finish atop the bracket after finishing third in 2022 following a penalty kick advantage over the Lions. Skyline, a normal competitor in the Jesuit-Meintser Tournament, has never won a tournament crown, but won the consolation championship last year after defeating North Mesquite in penalties. Read Full Article