As the soccer playoffs begin on both the boys and girls side this week, both soccer squads at Hahnville are playing their strongest soccer and head into the postseason with tons of momentum – and a pair of district championships.
Both teams sealed their district crown this season with mirroring unbeaten 4-0-1 records, the Hahnville boys making it official with a 2-0 win over Destrehan last week and the girls with a 2-0 win over Thibodaux.
It’s been a truly special season on the soccer field for both the Tigers and Lady Tigers, each team blending strong senior leadership with talented underclassmen.
The Hahnville boys have been downright dominant this season, entering the playoffs at 14-2-4. They have earned the No. 13 seed in Division I and will host Northshore Friday night at 6 p.m.
“The maturity of our players … we played a lot of freshmen last year who are now sophomores,” said Hahnville boys coach Matt Oubre. “So while we’re still young, these players have a lot of experience already. We’ve got eight seniors … we attack with numbers, use our speed and the way we move the ball and connect on passes is our strength.”
Hahnville’s backbone last season was defense, and it remains exceptional this season. But the Tigers are also scoring more goals in 2022-23, and that’s led to a big jump in results.
Owen Fontenot, Jackson Nelson and Evan Oubre are a trio of forwards who rank 1st, 2nd and 3rd, respectively, in goals scored for the Tigers. Dylan Patterson and Preston Bourgeois have been strong in the goal as keeper. Allen Dugas is one major part of a back line that’s held opposing offenses down while also initiating offense.
The team’s first loss of the season came to Benton, and Oubre called it a wake up call early in the year. The team has lost just once since that Dec. 3 game.
We poured it on from there,” Oubre said.
For the Lady Tigers, sophomore Addison Agnelly, who scored two goals in the Lady Tigers victory over Thibodaux – both on feeds from Kayla Martin – said this is for the senior class and that this team is just getting started. The win Friday night secured back-to-back district crowns for Hahnville.
“It feels amazing. We knew as the reigning district champions from last year, teams would be out to beat us. We just had to win. This is for our seniors more than anything … we’re gonna make sure we keep going for them and that this season isn’t cut short,” Agnelly said.
HHS head coach Edgar Fuentes said earlier this season that if his team took care of business in district play, the postseason bracket would take care of itself. That it did – after a relatively slow start, HHS went 7-0-1 in its final eight games to finish 11-8-2 and will host New Iberia in round one at 2 p.m. Sunday. HHS is the No. 16 seed and New Iberia No. 17.
“It took a little while but the most important thing is we discovered our identity,” said Fuentes. “We’re a possession-style team and don’t get me wrong, if we have our striker one-on-one up top we’re going to find her. We aren’t a one-trick pony … we know how to beat people different ways.”
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