By DAVID ERSOFF, Journal Sports
Bossier held its 34th annual soccer tournament this past weekend, pitting some of the areas best teams with teams from Monroe and as far away as Central Lafourche.
Loyola’s Flyers played only once in the event, beating Ouachita Parish 8-1 on Thursday. Earlier in the week the Flyers showed they deserved the top spot in the Shreveport-Bossier Journal coaches poll, dispatching Captain Shreve 4-0. Loyola showed an evenly distributed attack by getting goals from four different players: Graham Kyle, Whit Sample, Charlie Hart and Holt Hamilton.
The Flyers are off until the weekend, when Division III’s third-ranked St. Louis from Lake Charles comes into town to meet No. 2 Loyola on Friday night at Messmer Stadium. St. Louis will go to fourth-ranked Bossier High Saturday. These two games are highly anticipated and will be well attended events, since when three of the top four ranked teams in a division get together, sparks will fly. Mark the calendar: Bossier-Loyola is Jan. 12.
The Bearkats started their own tournament Thursday when they faced a motivated Airline squad, winning a tough 2-0 decision. The Bearkats got their goals from Bryan Tuyizere and Luciano Monge. The Vikings were kept in the game by keeper Justin Woodfork, who is new to the sport but made four saves that even the most seasoned keepers struggle with. The future is bright for the Vikings with their new backstop.
Bossier then lost 5-1 to Central Lafourche Friday, before beating Evangel 7-0 and Haughton 5-0 on Saturday.
Monday night Shreve made a statement by beating Bossier 2-0 on first-half goals by Omar Delaluz and Elijah Spikes. The Gators fell into a defensive mode in the second half that frustrated the Bearkats and kept them off the scoreboard.
The Gators lost to Loyola 4-0 and Marshall (Texas) 2-0 last week. The out of state game does not get figured into state power rankings.
The Benton Tigers went 2-1 during the Bossier Tournament, beating Ouachita Parish 1-0 and Minden 8-0. Their lone loss was 4-3 to Central Lafourche. Benton traveled to Parkway Monday night, beating the Panthers 6-0.
The Caddo Magnet Mustangs have been off since their 3-1 win over Airline last Tuesday. The Mustangs will be playing this weekend in Lafayette, in the Copa Acadiana Tournament. The schedule has yet to be posted.
Byrd was the only team that faced Central Lafourche and came away positively, finishing with a 0-0 tie. The Yellow Jackets also beat Ouachita Parish 2-0 and Haughton 4-0 in the Bossier Tournament.
Byrd is hosting Sterlington tonight, then will be joining Magnet in the Copa in Lafayette.
The Week 5 SBJ boys soccer poll listing school (W-L-T record) points (first place votes):
1, Loyola (4-3-2), 23 (4)
2, Bossier (6-4-2), 19 (1)
3, Benton (5-3-2), 14
4, Magnet (5-1-1), 9
5, Byrd (5-3-2), 6
Others receiving votes: Shreve (2), Airline (2).
Contact David at dersoff@bellsouth.net