JOURNAL STAFF
Loyola’s top-seeded soccer teams followed different paths to 2-1 quarterfinal victories at Messmer Field Monday that propelled them into LSHAA state semifinal contests at home late this week.
The Loyola boys (19-2-6), No. 1 in the Division III backet, held off ninth-seeded Archbishop Shaw (15-5-2). The Flyers opened a two-goal halftime lead and locked down on defense to move forward into a semifinal pairing against No. 12 Archbishop Hannon, a surprise 2-1 victor at fourth-seeded Sterlington.
The Lady Flyers (21-4-3), the top seed in the Division IV girls draw, were in the unaccustomed position of having to come from behind in the second half to dispatch No. 9 Northlake Christian (12-5-3), a team they defeated 2-0 on Nov. 23. Freshman Gabbye Brucia notched both Loyola goals, getting assists from Ainsley Matlock and Grace Shepard.
Their win sets up a Shreveport semifinal against district rival Calvary Baptist. The fifth-seeded Lady Cavaliers won in extra time for the second straight playoff contest, surviving 2-1 Monday at No. 4 St. Charles. Loyola will host Calvary (16-5-3) probably Friday or Saturday, said Lady Flyers coach Mark Matlock.
In the boys matchup Monday at Messmer, Loyola built a 2-0 advantage. Holt Hamilton converted a penalty kick about 20 minutes into play and the Flyers doubled their lead on a corner from Mark Henry to Whit Sample, who “flicked” it in, said winning coach Wes Kyle.
That spread and continuing defensive success in the second period allowed the Flyers to shift gears. With Hudson Moore in goal, Loyola’s confidence was justifiably sky-high.
“We did a lot of things differently,” said Kyle. “The first half, we were offensive minded. Second half, we switched about 20 minutes in, trying to secure the win. We dropped a couple players back and just played defensively.
“Hudson had two great saves with about five minutes left, one that was really a game-saver (off a corner kick),” said Kyle.
“We showed up ready to play. We were locked in from the very beginning. Our intensity was high, we were super aggressive and that team was super aggressive as well,” said Kyle, a who reached the state semis as a Loyola player and is making his first appearance as coach at his alma mater.
Conversely, the Lady Flyers had a “slow start,” said Matlock, before they began to control play. But Northlake Christian cashed in a penalty kick for an unsettling 1-0 halftime edge.
“We were dominating the game, a lot of chances on our side, but had that unfortunate penalty kick against us. We were a little panicked at halftime about being down, because we haven’t been down much, (but) we relaxed a bit,” said Matlock. “I felt confident we were going to have a lot more chances, and as the half continued, we started to send more numbers attacking with fewer defenders in the back, and ultimately got a couple back-to-back chances from Gabbye, who scored, and (then we were) kinda just seeing the game out.
“We were clearly the better team, but sometimes the ball just bounces like that and you just have to keep pushing until you can get it back.”
Carrying the No. 1 seed was not a burden for a program with a strong postseason resume, but Matlock was mindful of the relative inexperience up and down the roster.
“Really proud of the girls. We’re a young team, really, and they got a lot of good playoff experience tonight,” he said.