Everything is starting to fall into place for the Guyer boys soccer team.

And just in time.

Thanks to a clutch 2-1 victory over rival Ryan on Tuesday night coupled with Birdville’s 1-0 letdown against Lake Dallas, the Wildcats are in sole possession of first place with four games remaining.

“Tuesday’s results put us in first place all by ourselves, and that obviously is a good thing,” said Guyer coach Cody Schroeder. “But we still have some work left. The good thing is that we now control our own destiny.”

The Wildcats are seeking their third consecutive District 11-4A title. But unlike the previous years, the 2010 crown has been a little more difficult to claim.

“Not to say that the district was bad in the past, but we ran through district the last two years,” Schroeder said. “This year the district is a lot more competitive. It is really tight. Any win in district is big.”

Like Tuesday night’s against Ryan.

Guyer (9-4-4, 5-1) has now beaten the Raiders six consecutive times and seven out the eight meetings in the two schools’ histories.

“It is a good game every time,” Schroeder said. “Every game it is competitive. We have been very fortunate against them.”

He hopes Guyer’s fortunes continue when Birdville travels to Denton to face the Wildcats at 7 p.m. today.

A Guyer win will give the Wildcats a big cushion in the district standings.

“It is a big game,” Schroeder said. “It will be a battle. And they are striving for the same thing as we are.”

Birdville topped Guyer in the two teams’ previous meeting earlier this month.

“Every game in this district has a playoff atmosphere to it,” Schroeder said. “Every game is close, and that is good for us in the long run.

 “It is a big benefit to be in a district where games are very competitive. We have experienced shootouts and overtimes. We have had to play from behind. We are getting a lot of experience.”

Argyle picks up big wins

Last week Argyle was on the outside looking in at the playoff picture.

Fast-forward to today and the Eagles (6-8-2, 2-4) sit one game out of fourth place after picking up an upset victory against Ryan on Friday before taking care of business against Denton on Tuesday.

“They are hot right now,” said Denton coach Scott Heffley. “They have done really well to get themselves in position to make the playoffs.”

Denton loses another close match

During four of Denton’s five district losses this season the Broncos have lost by only one goal.

“It is rough,” Heffley said. “It is kind of frustrating because we have been playing about as good as we can play. We have gotten ourselves in nice positions to score, but we just don’t finish.”

Despite the losses Heffley said his team has improved dramatically since the first half of the season.

“The first half of the season we weren’t putting the ball in dangerous positions,” he said. “Now we are getting into areas where we can score. Our defense has done well. They have been solid.”

With four games remaining, Denton (3-9-2, 1-5) is two games behind Lake Dallas and Ryan for the fourth and final playoff spot.

Heffley and the Broncos are not counting themselves out yet.

“We are still alive,” he said. “The fact is that teams who were untouchable last year are defeatable this year. This is just a real close district and there is a lot of parody.”

Ryan girls suffer rare loss

The Lady Raiders were handed their first district loss since 2008 on Tuesday night when Guyer beat them, 2-1.

“We took our first one to the chin,” said Ryan coach Raiford Malone. “It was an even game most of the night. We just didn’t finish and Guyer put it away when they got their chances.”

Last season Ryan did not lose a district game, and since most of his team is sophomores, it was the first time most of his team tasted defeat.

“It will be interesting to see how they respond,” Malone said. “A loss — period — hurts. But most of these girls haven’t felt one in district play.”

Despite the loss Malone is happy that the Lady Raiders still sit in the top spot in District 11-4A. They are tied with Birdville, who they beat earlier this month and face next week.

“We had a cushion but now we lost that,” Malone said. “But we still control our own destiny.”

Ryan hopes to bounce back against Denton

Malone hopes his team enters Friday’s match against the Lady Broncos not down, but angry.

“I hope they are upset that they loss,” he said. “But we also have to focus on Denton. We have to put the Guyer loss behind us. This is district. You have to put that in the past.”

Denton coach Iseed Khoury expects to see an angry Ryan squad when his Lady Broncos go up against them

“I don’t think Ryan will be down at all,” he said. “They will be angry. They are a terrific team, but for us to be successful we have to worry about how we play. If we play well enough we can win a lot of games.”

Lady Wildcats stressing their team concept

The Lady Wildcats are the hottest team in the district entering this weekend’s slate of games.

Guyer (17-4-1, 4-2) has won four consecutive games since opening district with two consecutive losses.

“We have had a really good spell the last couple of weeks,” said Guyer coach Marc Cox. “We have been team building and we have really challenged them.”

Cox said after Guyer lost to Ryan and Birdville earlier this month he sat down with the team and gave them a pep talk.

“We basically stressed team concept,” he said. “The 11 players in the field now may not be our top 11 players, but they are our best team of 11 players. Everything we talk about is team oriented.”

He hopes the Lady Wildcats can continue their path to success when they travel to Birdville on Saturday for a showdown of two of the best teams in the district.

“We hope we can stay on a roll,” Cox said. “We came down to the wire with them in same situation last year. We always seem to have a war with.”

Denton on playoff brink

With four games remaining Denton is sitting in a nice position to clinch its first playoff berth since 2007.

Denton beat Argyle 3-0 on Tuesday to put it in the fourth playoff spot two games ahead of Lake Dallas.

“That win was massive,” Khoury said. “That win keeps us in the hunt.”

Khoury said being in playoff race makes games a lot more entertaining.

Even if the Lady Broncos lose to Ryan on Friday it can clinch a playoff spot next Friday when it faces Lake Dallas in Corinth.

“We want to make the playoffs but we like to think that we don’t want to take anything for granted,” Khoury said. “But we do want to play against the big teams and get the wins.”

Freshman nets hat trick

Denton freshman Kyla Petrie recorded her first career hat trick on Tuesday by scoring all three of the Lady Broncos’ goals.

“This young lady is going to be an outstanding player,” Khoury said. “She is starting to enjoy scoring. And she is getting used to scoring.”

MATTHEW MUENCH can be reached at 940-566-6869. His e-mail address is mmuench@dentonrc.com .