By DAVID ERSOFF, Journal Sports
Loyola and Bossier used the Christmas holiday to travel south, and the results separated the teams’ tie for second place in the Shreveport-Bossier Journal Boys Soccer Coaches Poll.
Loyola traveled to the northshore this past weekend to face Mandeville and Hammond. The Flyers were able to secure a scoreless tie against the highly-ranked Skippers on Friday night. Saturday morning Loyola bested Hammond 4-2 in a wet and muddy game. The previous week the Flyers beat Minden 1-0 and tied Dutchtown 0-0. The Flyers have this week off.
Bossier traveled to Lake Charles the weekend before Christmas, falling 5-0 to Barbe, before duplicating their 1-0 2023 semifinal victory over St. Louis Catholic. The Bearkats beat Ouachita Parish 2-0 before their trip south. The Bearkats posted a 5-0 win over Calvary Monday in game postponed from last weekend and will face Evangel on Saturday.
The Captain Shreve Gators held their tight grip at the top of the coaches poll with three solid wins over Neville 5-2, Sterlington 3-0 and Dutchtown 2-1, all played before Christmas. The Gators will be traveling this weekend to the EiL Tournament hosted by Teurlings Catholic. Shreve is scheduled to play Lafayette and Teurlings Catholic.
Byrd only played two games over these past couple of weeks, beating Huntington 8-0 and Caddo Magnet 5-1. The Yellow Jackets are also headed to the EiL Tournament. They are scheduled to face Teurlings Catholic and Catholic of Baton Rouge.
Benton’s holiday had only a single game scheduled. The Tigers defeated Dutchtown 2-0 on Dec. 20 and are off until next week.
Northwood held its sixth spot in the poll despite not playing any games over the last two weeks and will be off this week as well. Coach Francois Browne is looking to have a well-rested team going into the stretch run.
Airline had a solid holiday break, winning against Huntington and West Ouachita, both by scorelines of 8-0. The Vikings also tied both North DeSoto and Ruston 2-2. Airline is off until next week.
The SBJ Week 7 Coaches Boys Soccer Poll:
Rank Team (1st place votes) Record Pts Last poll
1 Captain Shreve (9) 11-3-3 69 1
2 Loyola (1) 12-1-4 57 T2
3 Bossier 9-5-1 47 T2
4 Byrd (1) 9-3-1 39 4
5 Benton 7-8-1 24 5
6 Northwood 7-2-2 18 6
7 Airline 8-1-3 16 7
Also receiving votes — Calvary (5), Magnet (4), North DeSoto (1).
Contact David at dersoff@bellsouth.net