By DAVID ERSOFF, Journal Sports
Both Calvary Baptist soccer teams defied their seedings and won state quarterfinal matches in south Louisiana on Monday, with the girls setting up a district rematch at No. 1 Loyola later this week.
The Byrd girls handled their business at home and moved into the Division I semis with another home game ahead, but the Benton girls had their best-ever season ended Monday evening in LHSAA postseason competition.
In the boys Division IV bracket, No. 13 Calvary (15-10-1) pulled its second road upset of this year’s playoffs, a 3-1 triumph at No. 5 St. Thomas Aquinas (10-7-3). Calvary’s fifth-seeded Lady Cavaliers (16-5-3) went to double overtime for the second straight game, this time on the road, and prevailed 2-1 at No. 4 St. Charles (15-6-4) to reach the D-IV girls semis.
Byrd’s No. 2-seeded Lady Jackets (18-3-4) delighted the home fans as they stopped No. 10 Mandeville (20-8-4), beating the Lady Skippers 1-0 for the second time this season.
But it was a different story for the No. 3 Benton Lady Tigers (20-4-3), who fell 2-0 to sixth-seeded Lafayette (21-3-2) in a match played on Benton’s new turf field.
The outcomes mean five of the seven local teams in the quarterfinals have advanced to the semifinal round with the last to play, the Bossier boys, hoping to advance in a homefield Division III quarterfinal. Today’s contest has been pushed to Wednesday at 6 due to anticipated heavy rain this afternoon and evening.
The third-seeded Bearkats (17-6-2) will host No. 6 St. Louis (9-7-4) in a rematch of a Dec. 21 contest won 1-0 by Bossier. This is also a rematch of the 2023 semifinals with the Bearkats winning by the same 1-0 scoreline.
Monday’s biggest upset unfolded quickly. Calvary’s boys took a 2-0 lead into halftime, both goals scored by Will Merry, one unassisted and the other assisted by Cole Miller. Keeper Jacob Tibbett came up big with some very nice saves to keep the clean sheet at halftime. Both teams had their chances to score with possession even.
The second half started the same way, with possession moving back and forth, until Jett Lary padded the Cavaliers’ lead to 3-0. The last 15 minutes had the homestanding Falcons pushing the ball forward in a frantic way to get back in the game. Time and time again Tibbett came up with strong keeper play.
It was the 77th minute when the Falcons were finally able to get on the board but in vain. The Cavaliers will be back on the road for their semifinal game late this week against the winner of tonight’s quarter In New Orleans pitting top-seeded Isadore Newman (21-0-1) against No. 8 Episcopal of Acadiana (10-6-2).
The Lady Cavaliers got into another dogfight Monday. The teams went scoreless in the first half. The second half did not start the way Calvary wanted when St. Charles netted an early goal. This changed the focus for the Lady Cavaliers, as they needed to find the equalizer. That goal came with only five minutes left in the regulation, when junior Addison Stephenson netted the tying goal.
The extra time was just as competitive. Playing to survive and advance, the teams went scoreless through two 10-minute overtime periods as well as the first five-minute sudden death period. In the second and final sudden death OT period, Calvary freshman Caroline Bowman hit the game winner just one minute before the Lady Cavaliers would have gone to penalty kicks for the second straight playoff game.
Byrd’s Lady Jackets keep winning, but just barely. In the playoffs, just barely is good enough. In the first half Byrd senior Elizabeth Payne took a shot that was blocked by the Mandeville keeper, Payne kept moving forward and knocked the rebound into the net. Little did anyone know that would be the game’s only goal.
The second half turned into a very hard-fought battle, with long balls being sent in both directions and Byrd having a slight majority of the chances at goal, including a goal called back for offsides. Mandeville was most dangerous on corner kicks and free kicks. The Lady Skippers almost got the equalizer in the last minute, but the free kick was just inches outside the post. The Lady Jackets will now host Lafayette later this week in the semifinals.
Benton and Lafayette played a scoreless first half, with possession and chances not favoring either team. The second half began as the first ended, but with 17 minutes remaining the Lady Lions were able to score a go-ahead goal. They added an insurance score on a penalty kick.
“Huge thank you to the seniors. They’ve helped to lead this program to a place that is history making,” said Lady Tigers’ coach Jesse Dyer. “They can say they were the first in several ways: first home playoff game, first 20-win season and first quarterfinal appearance in D-1.”
Contact David at dersoff@bellsouth.net