By DAVID ERSOFF, Journal Sports
Captain Shreve coach Erik Lane has achieved a milestone that is rarely reached these days: 700 career high school soccer wins. He did so when the Lady Gators defeated Northwood on Monday night, 8-0.
Lane is in his seventh year at Shreve with a 141-28-16 record with the Lady Gators. He moved here from the Houston area, where he coached for 28 years, and in those 35 years holds a 701-204-131 record, after the Lady Gators defeated Sterlington Tuesday night 5-0.
The season has started slowly as the top girls teams get ready for the Loyola Flyers Invitational this weekend. This tournament has become a large attraction drawing strong teams around the state, eager to get the opportunity for competitive games against Shreveport-Bossier’s best teams. Highly-ranked girls teams coming this weekend include Lakeshore, Dutchtown, Archbishop Hannan, University Lab and West Monroe.
The inaugural Shreveport-Bossier Journal coaches’ poll of the 2025-26 season is close at the top, with places 1-3 separated by only four votes. Benton starts the season at No. 1, with three first place votes and 22 overall points.
The Lady Tigers faced West Monroe Tuesday night, blanking the Lady Rebels 2-0. They will be facing Sterlington, Hannan and University Lab this weekend in the Flyer Invitational.
Byrd went to the state finals the last two years and hopes to take that next step and bring the title back to Shreveport this year. The Lady Jackets recorded two first-place votes and 20 points overall to sit in the second spot in the coaches’ poll.
The Lady Jackets defeated Ouachita Parish 7-0 on Monday. Byrd is playing four games in this weekend’s Flyer Invitational, meeting West Ouachita, Zachary, Hannan and University Lab.
Loyola, who also was in a 2025 state title game, finished a close third in the coaches’ poll, with 18 points. The Lady Flyers began their season Monday, defeating Alexandria 2-0. Loyola will kick off its tournament Friday, when the Lady Flyers face University Lab. They follow up that game Saturday against Lakeshore and West Ouachita.
Captain Shreve earned eight votes and the fourth spot in the preseason poll. The Lady Gators will play tonight for the third day in a row, at Ouachita Parish, before taking the weekend off prior to the Thanksgiving break.
Calvary edged Caddo Magnet 4-3 to take the fifth and final spot on the poll. The Lady Cavaliers fell to Loyola in last year’s semifinals. Calvary started the season on Monday with a 4-0 win over North Caddo. The Lady Cavaliers will face Lakeshore, Hannan and Ouachita Parish this weekend in the Flyer invitational.
Caddo Magnet was the only other team to record any votes in the preseason poll and began the season on Monday, in a wild game against Haughton, winning 10-6. The Lady Mustangs will face a trio of Monroe teams in this weekend’s invitational: Ouachita Parish, West Monroe and Sterlington.
This season the SBJ’s coaches’ poll will be limited to the top 5 teams, using a panel of 5 coaches, representing multiple divisions.
The first 2025-26 girls’ poll listing school (W-L-T record), points and (first place votes):
1, Benton (1-0-0), 22 (3)
2, Byrd (1-0-0), 20 (2)
3, Loyola (1-0-0), 18
4, Shreve (2-0-0), 8
5, Calvary (1-0-0), 4
Others receiving votes: Magnet (3).
Contact David at dersoff@bellsouth.net