By DAVID ERSOFF, Journal Sports
Three local teams have advanced to the LHSAA soccer semifinals following Monday evening’s steps forward by the defending state champion Loyola girls and the second-seeded Bossier boys. Tonight the Captain Shreve girls host their quarterfinal contest.
The No. 3-seeded Lady Gators begin their bid to advance to the semis, kicking off at Lee Hedges Stadium, at 6 p.m. against the sixth-seeded Dutchtown Lady Griffins. This is a rematch of last year’s quarterfinal, which Dutchtown won 4-0. This game has added incentive after No. 2 St. Scholastica fell 3-2 to seventh-ranked Northshore in another quarterfinal. Tonight’s winner will host the semifinal against Northshore.
Three quarterfinal games played Monday involving local teams went according to form. Higher seeds won, moving Loyola and Bossier forward, and ending a good season for Parkway’s girls.
Loyola, the top seed in the girls’ Division IV bracket, held off No. 8 Louise McGehee 2-0 at Messmer Stadium. Bossier also played at home, and the Bearkats dispatched 10th-seed Belaire 5-1. Parkway’s girls were overwhelmed in Lafayette by the country’s third-ranked squad, St. Thomas More, 8-0.
The Lady Flyers were able to overcome multiple injuries and came away with the win behind a superior defensive performance. Loyola did not allow a shot on goal.
The Lady Flyers jumped out to an early lead. In the fourth minute they passed the ball upfield, where Saniyah Simo crossed the ball to Allie Brucia, who finished the opportunity.
“We did what we wanted to do in getting an early goal,” said Loyola coach Mark Matlock. “The message was that once we get that first goal, don’t take the foot off the gas. We created a bunch of chances but just couldn’t get the second goal until late and let them hang around a little longer than we would have liked.”
The rest of the first half, and well into the second half, was played with Loyola pressing the McGehee goal. The Lady Flyers were frustrated at the chances that did not put the game away, knowing that games when a team is dominating but can’t finish, all too often become trap games, where one mistake lets the other team back into serious contention. That danger was finally averted with five minutes remaining when Ainsley Matlock hit a shot into the far post that the McGehee keeper got her fingers on, but could not keep out.
“We were knocking on the door for a long time before Ainsley hit a great strike and that sealed the deal for us,” said Matlock.
Loyola’s semifinal contest is targeted for Friday at 4:30 p.m. at Messmer Stadium, pending confirmation on referees. The Lady Flyers will host No. 4 Episcopal of Baton Rouge.
Bossier, No. 2 in Division III, is the last local boys’ team in the playoffs, and showed its staying power, dominating play and the scoreboard with the four-goal margin.
This was Bearkats’ mentor Orlando Medellin’s 100th win as a high school coach, achieved quickly in just 150 games played, with an overall record of 100-33-17. When asked how he felt about the achievement, Medellin kept his eyes on the big prize.
“I would trade the next 100, for the next two,” he said, anticipating the semifinals and hopefully, a state championship game.
Belaire came out with an aggressive game plan, meant to intimidate the Bearkats. This just resulted in a ton of fouls called on both teams. There were also three yellow cards and a straight red card given, but only one of those yellows went to a Bearkat.
With 20 minutes left in the first half, Yoany Reyes took a free kick from 35 yards out and bent it over the wall into the back of the net, giving Bossier the 1-0 advantage. A few minutes later a free kick was sent into Reyes, who one-touched it to a wide-open David Rojas, who in turn one-touched it into goal.
The Bearkats held on to the 2-0 lead into halftime.
The second half played out very similar to the first — physical and extremely fast-paced. Belaire was extremely fit, as most teams can’t maintain this kind of pace that Bossier prefers.
Bossier received two penalty kicks in the middle of the half. The first was finished by Alex Tome. The second came after a Bengals’ player, being shown a straight red card after he committed the foul, kicked the ball out of frustration and right at the fallen Reyes. The center referee immediately stepped in and showed the red card. Belaire played the rest of the game with 10 players. Reyes converted the PK.
Felix Deras scored the final Bossier goal off an assist by Rony Carcomo. Belaire scored a last-minute goal to complete the scoreline and spoil the shutout.
Next, Bossier will square off against No. 3 St. Louis. That semifinal will be played at Bossier High either Friday or Saturday.
Parkway’s Lady Panthers, seeded eighth in Division II, faced a daunting assignment against the five-time reigning state champion St. Thomas More Lady Cougars. The game was called at halftime. Parkway’s lone standout was senior goalkeeper Audri Dupre, who recorded 17 saves, and went home with a bump on the head from a Lady Cougar trying for a header, earning one of the saves against the No. 1 seed.
The Caddo Magnet girls, the other local team bound for the semifinals, will visit STM in Lafayette either Friday or Saturday bidding for the upset.
Contact David at dersoff@bellsouth.net