By DAVID ERSOFF, Journal Sports
Shreveport-Bossier started the LHSAA soccer playoffs with 21 teams, between the girls and boys, that made the state championship tournaments. We are down to our last three; hopefully these squads can duplicate last year’s local haul and all advance to the finals.
Their state semifinal games are Saturday. Loyola’s boys are at home, while the girls from Benton and Calvary head south.
Second-seeded Loyola hosts No. 3 St. Louis Catholic in a Division III contest at Messmer Stadium with kickoff under the lights at 7. It will be packed and passionate, so come early and enjoy the action.
The Flyers and the Saints faced each other back on Dec. 19, also at Messmer Stadium, with Loyola winning a tight game 1-0. Both squads have made improvements so a game played months ago may not be a great indicator of Saturday’s result, but the Loyola faithful will hope it does.
These squads had three common opponents, with very similar results, even more so pointing to a tight game. Loyola beat Bossier 1-0 and Hannan 4-1, while losing to Teurlings Catholic 3-0. St. Louis beat Bossier and Hannan 1-0, while falling to Teurlings 3-0.
The Calvary Lady Cavaliers kick off a Division IV semifinal at 2 in Slidell against Pope John Paul II. These teams faced each other last year in the second round of the playoffs in Shreveport. Their game was scoreless through regulation, the two 10-minute overtime periods, and through the two five-minute golden goal overtimes. Calvary won on penalty kicks and reached the state finals.
This year Calvary, the No. 8 seed, and fourth-seeded PJP II had three common opponents. A look at these gives Calvary the edge, on paper at least. Both teams beat Lakeshore: PJP II 2-0 and Calvary 1-0. The Lady Cavaliers beat Northlake Christian 4-1, while the Lady Jaguars lost 1-0. Calvary beat top-seeded St. Thomas Aquinas 1-0 in the quarterfinals, while PJP II tied them 0-0 in the regular season.
No. 5 Benton will start its semi at 3 p.m. at Pan Am Stadium in New Orleans where they face top-seeded Mt. Carmel. The Cubs won the Division I state title last year and are looking for a repeat.
The Lady Tigers finally broke through the quarterfinals barrier to reach the semifinals and are hungry for more. The teams did not face each other this year but do have five common opponents that could point us to a winner.
Both teams beat Northshore and Hahnville, while both fell to Archbishop Hannan. The difference comes in the remaining two opponents, Mandeville and Parkview Baptist. The Cubs won both: 2-0 and 3-1 respectively. The Lady Tigers fell to both: 3-1 and 4-0.
This, of course, does not take into account the heart that Benton showed when the Lady Tigers came back to beat Northshore on Monday.
Look for the semifinals recap in Monday morning’s Shreveport-Bossier Journal.
Contact David at dersoff@bellsouth.net