Wildcat boys soccer embark to playoffs

Hahnville boys, girls fall short against parish rivals

Thelezia Folse

DHS soccer players celebrate their win against the HHS Tigers on Jan. 30.

The Destrehan High School boys soccer team snagged a playoff spot after they shut out parish rivals, Hahnville, 3-0 in the District 6-1 season closer on Jan. 30.

The team placed third in the division with a 5-5 record, which qualified them for the playoffs.

Earlier in the season, Hahnville defeated the Wildcats in their first district meeting 2-1. Sam Weinberg was the only player to score a goal for DHS in that game.

Coach Brad Landeche says that the boys did everything they had to do to in order to bring home a win and move into the post-season.

“Hahnville is a very dangerous team, who continues to improve and they beat us in the first round,” said Landeche. “We had our work cut out for us this go-around and we prevailed.”

Dutchtown, 9-1, and East Acension, 8-2, placed as the District 6-1 champion and runner up. Both teams join the Destrehan boys in the playoffs.

The Hahnville High School girls soccer team also lost to the Wildcats 1-0 in a win-or-go-home game.

Head coach Shaun Crochet says that the most challenging aspect of the game was trying to overcome an early 0-1 deficit.

“We came out flat and paid for it,” he said. “After we settled down we were able to play our game, but were unable to find the back of the net.”

Hahnville attempted 12 shots on the goal and four corner kicks, while Destrehan shot only twice and took one corner kick.

Crochet says that although the Lady Tigers were defeated, they played with heart.

“Our entire team played with great passion and pride,,” he added. “And they rallied around our seniors the entire night.”

The HHS girls will say goodbye to Carissa Marston, Chelsey Durapau, Leslie Jefferson and Jenessa Duncan - all of whom will graduate in May.

Crochet points out the only highlight of the game came for HHS in the second half.

“We had a chance to at least equalize in the second half with two penalty kicks,” he added. “It’s missed opportunities like that that truly hurt our team’s chances.”

Although the Lady Cats claimed victory over Hahnville, their efforts fell short of qualifying for the playoffs.

DHS and HHS both end the season at 3-7. Dutchtown takes the District 6-1 champion spot with a 10-0 undefeated season. East Ascension finishes 7-3, placing as runner up.

Winning the annual Battle on the Bayou soccer tournament will probably go down in the books as the most memorable moment of the season for the Lady Tigers.

In that tournament HHS kicked off the tournament with a 7-0 win against the Beau Chene Lady Gators.

Three goals were scored by Annie Kinler, and Arden Robert, Jessica St. Pierre, Brandie Fabre and Ashley Hartman each scored one goal against their opponent.

Lady Tigers defenders Leslie Jefferson, Jenessa Duncan, Kayleigh Eppling, Jessica Donnaud, Claire Crutti, Devin Durapau and Brandi Soignier along with goal keepers Destiny Louviere and Alyssa Fournier allowed Beau Chene zero shots the entire match.

Despite out shooting the Cabrini Lady Crescents 14-3, game No. 2 proved to be a much tougher match up and neither team scored any goals.

Timely defense was led by Donnaud, Jefferson, Duncan and Eppling, with Louviere allowing only three shots during the game and securing the shut out.

The Lady Tiger defenders remained on point during HHS’ next game against the Woodlawn Lady Panthers.

The girls defeated WHS 1-0 with Donnaud scoring the only goal.

In the final game of the tournament, HHS matched up against the Comeaux Lady Spartans and defeated them 3-2. The girls also won the penalty kick shoot out 4-3.