Addison Agnelly’s go-ahead goal in the second half spelled the difference in a rivalry matchup with major playoff implications, as Hahnville edged Destrehan 2-1 at Wildcat Stadium Friday night.
Agnelly and Kayla Martin each scored goals for Hahnville, which rallied from a 1-0 halftime deficit to earn the victory.
“I was so hyped for this,” said Agnelly, a sophomore. “After we tied Central, it was kind of a wake-up call. We saw Destrehan had their own 2-2 tie, so winning this one was big, and plus you have the rivalry part of it all. I wanted this one for my seniors. They’ve been fighting for it for four years … I wanted to play as hard as I could so we could win their last rivalry game.”
Destrehan’s Faith Leveck scored early to put the Wildcats ahead 1-0, but Martin tied things up after drawing a penalty at the top of the box – and with it a free kick.
“My heart dropped after (Leveck’s goal),” said Martin. “I think we understood we had to get it together after that and really play together as a team. We knew we had to get that first one on our end to get ourselves going.”
Agnelly’s go-ahead score came on a counterattack – she made a strong move, cut inside and put the ball away into the back of the net.
“It was honestly a little scary because I really did not want to miss there,” Agnelly said. “I’m thankful I had the composure to finish that off. It was a big lift for us and relief, because once we were ahead it’s ‘ok, we’re up, we just need to play hard and hold it down.”
Hahnville head coach Edgar Fuentes called it a momentum booster for his team, which he says is finding its stride after a relatively slow start.
“We’ve lost four senior starters from last year, but we’re finding our mojo,” Fuentes said. “We’re healthy now after a few injuries and this win should boost us up the power rankings. We feel like if we take care of district, everything will fall into place.”
Hahnville is now 8-8-3 on the season after starting 4-8-2. The Lady Tigers are 4-0-1 over their past five matches.
Destrehan head coach Jade Gallaher was not pleased with the game officials in the second half, starting with the penalty leading to HHS’ tying goal on the free kick.
“I feel that was the turning point … the calls started going their way. I’m not one to badmouth the referees, but I didn’t feel like things were very fair at all to our team. I thought they left everything on the field tonight and really fought for this win, and they deserved a better outcome,” Gallaher said.
Destrehan is now 7-6-2 on the season, including a 2-1-1 mark in District 7-I. The Ladycats bounced back Tuesday with a 1-0 win over Thibodaux at home – Faith LeVeck hit the game-winner off of a corner kick by Eden Benefield – and the team will be looking to close strong to nail down its playoff position.
“We just have to lock in,” Gallaher said. “Win this next district game and hopefully come out with a good result in our last three matches.”
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