Plano East’s Luca Cortesano helped lead the Panthers’ boys soccer team to its first playoff appearance since 2018. Photo by Andy Redmond / C&S Media

By David Wolman

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Plano East enjoyed a breakthrough in multiple sports during the 2025-26 school year.

The Lady Panthers soccer team advanced to the regional semifinals for the first time since 2008, the boys’ soccer team made its first postseason appearance since 2018, and Jake Li became the first male golfer from Plano East to qualify for the regional tournament since 2012.

The Murphy Monitor will take a closer examination of each sport and highlight their individual and team success.

Boys soccer

Plano East turned to a familiar face to try and get the Panthers back into the playoffs after barely missing in each of the previous two seasons.

Head coach Justin Bailey and his coaching staff had the Panthers firing on all cylinders, with the reward being their first postseason berth in nearly a decade.

The clincher was a 2-1 road win over Plano on March 6. The Panthers were forced to play from behind after the Wildcats scored on a breakaway in the 16^th minute. Brandon Cazeault scored in the 30^th minute to level the score at 1-1. Following a one-hour delay for lightning in the area, the Panthers took the lead for good after Myles Dennis scored on a header.

Plano East had its chances in a Class 6A Division I bi-district playoff match at Coppell, but the Panthers were unable to find the back of the net in a 2-0 loss. Kolby Lee had Plano East’s best scoring chance. He beat three Cowboy defenders on his own, but he couldn’t get a clean shot away.

Following the conclusion of the season, Garrett Caldwell was named the District 6-6A Co-Goalkeeper of the Year.

Girls soccer

Head coach Cristy Cooley felt that the Lady Panthers needed “just a taste” of the playoffs to fully realize their potential.

Plano East got that taste last year when it qualified for the playoffs for the first time in 15 years.

Although the Lady Panthers’ season ended in the bi-district round of the Class 6A Division I playoffs after losing 4-1 to eventual state champion Coppell, Plano East was just getting warmed up.

Fast-forward to this year and the Lady Panthers went three rounds deep in the postseason.

After earning a defensive-minded 1-0 victory over battle-tested Hebron in bi-district, Plano East put forth a dominant effort in front of its home fans during a 7-1 rout of Arlington Martin in area.

Backed by dueling hat tricks from Alexa Perreira and Lauren Delapaz, Plano East scored the game’s final six goals after the Lady Warriors had tied the score at 1-1 during the 18^th minute.

In the regional semifinals, Plano East saw a late rally come up short in a 3-2 loss to eventual state runner-up Keller.

Following the conclusion of the season, Delapaz was named the District 6-6A Co-MVP and Cooley was tabbed the district’s Coach of the Year.

Golf

Plano East has experienced plenty of success in golf over the years, especially on the girls’ side, highlighted by a state runner-up finish by Meagan Winans in 2021.

However, advancing a male golfer past the district tournament had been a struggle over the past decade.

That drought finally ended this year.

Incoming senior Jake Li overcame a rough start to earn third place in District 6-6A with a score of 147, becoming the first male golfer at Plano East in 14 years to qualify for regionals.

Li carded a double-bogey score of 6 on the par-4, hole No. 1 on the first day of the two-day event. However, the Plano East junior quickly regrouped, and he didn’t have a double bogey for the rest of the tournament. 

Carter Cox (21^st, 160), Surya Sastry (35^th, 167), Rayden Lee (39^th, 168) and Grant Rae (41^st, 169), Kristian Leask (41^st, 169), Mason Le (54^th, 176), Rohan Sukesh (54^th, 176), Blake Work (54^th, 176) and Zachary Jordan (86^th, 211) also competed for Plano East at the 6-6A tournament.

At the regional tournament, Li shot a 3-over 151 to finish in 29^th place.

On the girls’ side, Plano East finished in 10^th place at the district tournament.

Michelle Phan (27^th, 182) led the charge for the Lady Panthers, followed by Hannah Tong (40^th, 197), Saydee Vo (45^th, 206), Haley Nguyen (63^rd, 225) and Georgia Martin (65^th, 228).

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