By DAVID ERSOFF, Journal Sports
Bossier’s boys will carry the Shreveport-Bossier soccer banner into state championship play Thursday with a first-ever appearance in the final, while the four-year streak of championship game appearances by the reigning state titleist Loyola girls has reached a bitter end.
Three local teams reached state semifinals in their divisions and Bossier was the lone survivor.
As the last local standing Saturday afternoon, Bossier won at home 1-0. Loyola and Magnet girls’ teams had already fallen, Loyola losing 2-1 at home in overtime Friday evening, while Magnet fell 7-0 in Lafayette against the nation’s No. 3-ranked girls team on Saturday.
The second-seeded Bearkats hosted No. 3 St. Louis for a spot in the Division III final. The atmosphere was electric, with over 400 fans including the Bearkat band and a mariachi band. The Saints brought a large visiting crowd.
The Saints, who lost to the Bearkats a few weeks ago, employed a completely different strategy for this game. They did not press the ball in the middle of the field and packed the box, known in soccer terms as “parking the bus.” This frustrated the Bearkats, as they are used to being pressured and thrive with that. The Saints used counterattacks to try and generate opportunities. The first half was evenly played, with both teams having periods of time where they controlled the ball and the chances at goal.
The second half was extremely chippy with tempers flaring on the field and in the stands. The players began pushing and shoving, until finally players got into each other’s faces and a shoving frenzy began, resulting in a yellow card given to a player from both teams. This did not settle the crowd or the players, however. The hard fouls continued, and the fans remained frustrated with the officials’ calls and non-calls in the scoreless battle.
With eight minutes to go, the Bearkats got a free kick from 50 yards out and the ball was sent towards goal. The Saints keeper punched it out, right to the feet of Bossier defender Joshua Campos at the top of the 18. He hit an absolute no-doubter into the back of the net. Some levity came after the goal, when an overzealous Bossier fan ran onto the field to hug a player and was escorted out of the stadium. When the final whistle blew, the home crowd went into a “Bossier, Bossier, Bossier” chant. Bearkats’ coach Orlando Medellin jubilantly asked, “Is this real? Is this really happening?”
The dream is reality, coach. Medellin and his program have reached the pinnacle of state high school soccer for the first time.
The Bearkats will match up with fourth-seeded The Willow School (formally Lusher Charter) at 4:30 Thursday at Strawberry Stadium in Hammond on the Southeastern Louisiana University campus. These teams faced each other in November with a 0-0 result, which will not be repeated.
The Loyola girls have been a fixture in the state finals lately, but a fiercely-contested semifinal Friday night halted that run.
The top seed in Division IV hosted fourth-seeded Episcopal. This game started with Loyola pushing forward and having some early opportunities at goal, but the Lady Flyers couldn’t finish. With 25 minutes erased, Loyola passed the ball back towards goal, unfortunately the touch wasn’t crisp and Episcopal eighth-grader Sydney Bonnecaze intercepted the ball and put the Lady Knights ahead 1-0.
This marked a change in momentum, with the Lady Flyers not as sharp as when they’d begun the game. That all could have changed with a penalty kick awarded to Loyola, but it sailed just over the bar and the half ended with a 1-0 edge for the visitors.
The second half again opened well for the Lady Flyers, and this time it counted when Allye Brucia was able to put Loyola on the board, tying the game at 1-1. The rest of the half was played up and down the field and no goals conceded.
In overtime, two 10-minute periods were played. Shortly after the first OT started, the Lady Knights got a corner kick and the ball ended at Bonnecaze’s feet. She put Episcopal ahead 2-1. The Lady Flyers pushed forward valiantly, and had it not been for Cassie Campbell’s shot hitting the crossbar, or an amazing save by Lady Knights keeper Riley Posey on a shot by Madelyn Vandevender, the game would have not ended with Episcopal winning 2-1.
In Saturday’s first semi involving a local squad, the fourth-ranked Caddo Magnet Lady Mustangs faced five-time reigning state champion St. Thomas More in a Division II contest in Lafayette. The heavily favored Lady Cougars started fast, and never let up.
They scored four times in the first half, while also hitting the crossbar five times. Magnet had trouble holding possession and keeping the pressure off their defense against the STM onslaught.
Magnet did earn a little more time with the ball in the second period, and even took it into the Lady Cougars’ half on occasion. After an early goal, St. Thomas More hit a dry spell with scoring until netting a PK for a 6-0 spread.
The bright spot for Magnet came late when the Lady Cougars got another penalty kick, and Lady Mustangs’ keeper Addison Tipton saved the PK and then snagged a second save off the rebound.
Contact David at dersoff@bellsouth.net
