John Tyler boys soccer is in unfamiliar territory.

The Lions are entering the playoffs not as a top seed with a target on their backs but as a fourth seed looking to pull an upset.

John Tyler begins the postseason on Friday against East Texas rival Mount Pleasant. Kickoff is 7 p.m. at Pine Tree’s Pirate Stadium.

“We’re the underdog, but I’ve got a lot of seniors that want to make a statement,” JT coach Howard Story said. “They’ve been here for four years. They’ve been with those dominant John Tyler teams and I don’t think they’re ready to see that end in the first round.”

The Lions (10-8-5) have reached the sectional round of the playoffs four years running but have yet to move past that round. This season, with the introduction of an additional classification in UIL soccer, there is no sectional round, with area playoffs giving way to regional quarterfinals.

Perhaps that will help JT, which has 13 seniors, go further than three rounds.

“I know we can go far, get over that third round curse that’s been going on for years,” JT senior midfielder Luis Lizalde said. “I’m getting tired of that. I think we can, we just have to go show out against Mount Pleasant.

“(Losing in the third round has) been getting on my nerves. It’s getting annoying now. We’ve got to break that curse.”

Last year the Lions won a district title and went into the postseason as a favorite in East Texas before bowing out to Pine Tree 2-1 in the third round.

That JT squad won its first nine district games. This year’s team has yet to find that sort of consistency, both from game-to-game and within a match.

“We kind of lost our composure as a team (from last year),” senior left mid Ernesto Hernandez said. “We lost a lot of starters. We’re trying to find the right composure we had since last year, or something better.”

Playing into that inconsistency is Story searching for the right combination in defense. The JT coach said he has yet to start the same back four in back-to-back games and likely will have a new defensive line against Mount Pleasant.

“We’ve had our ups and downs,” senior goalie Haziel Urieta said. “We’re getting it figured eventually.”

For the Lions, advancement in the playoffs will be down to consistency and cutting out mistakes that have hampered their win total throughout the season.

Many of the 25 goals scored on JT this season have come directly following miscues.

“We’re playing good, it’s just that we need to finish games,” senior forward Aaron Ibarra said. “Errors sometimes cost us games but other than that we’ve been playing good, playing as a team.”

If they can find the right form at the right time, however, Story believes his team will be a tough out in the playoffs.

“When they’re on, they’re hard to beat,” Story said.

Ibarra leads the team with six goals on the season to go with two assists. Luis Duran, last year’s leading goal-getter with 15, has five goals and two assists.

Senior midfielder Jose Paz and Lizalde share the team lead with five assists apiece. Lizalde has added four goals while Paz has three.

None of them scored the last time JT met Mount Pleasant. Back in the Longview Tournament on the second week of the season, the Tigers pulled out a 1-0 victory on a penalty kick midway through the first half.

It was the second straight year Mount Pleasant handed JT its first loss of the season. This year the Tigers enter the postseason as the District 15-5A champs, having won District 29-4A last year before losing 1-0 to Pine Tree in the area playoffs.

“We’ve got our hands full with Mount Pleasant and we know that,” Story said. “They have found their scoring touch and so we’re just looking at playing tough, playing close and come away with a victory.”

The Lions will hope to have built a little momentum at the end of the season. JT beat Jacksonville 2-0 before giving District 16-5A champ Lufkin all it could handle in a 3-2 loss in the regular-season finale on the road.

“The way we played against Lufkin on Friday, we showed out over there,” Lizalde said. “We came out with the loss but played pretty good. I think we’re ready.”

Despite the ups and downs this season, the Lions know starting Friday it’s do or die.

“We know we’re going to have to play our best game and play hard,” Story said. “We’re going to play traditional John Tyler soccer. We’re not really ones to sit back and we’re going to come out there and we’re going to go toe-to-toe with you, that’s our tradition.”

LIONS TALES: The winner of Friday’s game faces either Dallas Molina or Mansfield Summit in the area playoffs. … In addition to the JT boys, the Lady Lions soccer team is in action on Friday. After earning the No. 3 seed from District 16-5A, JT will play 15-5A second-place Texas High at 7 p.m. from Trinity Mother Frances Rose Stadium.