
A year ago, Hahnville and Destrehan finished in a deadlock.
A year and another game later – and we still don’t have a winner.
The Tigers and Wildcats finished Friday night’s game at Destrehan with a score of 0-0, the second tie in as many games, and seasons, between the two rivals.
The tie denied Hahnville the chance to seal a 4-0 District 7-I record, but the Tigers nonetheless have secured the district championship with a final league mark of 3-0-1.
The tie, meanwhile, was a positive result for Destrehan (7-10-2) which welcomed a Hahnville (16-3-2) team that entered the night ranked second in power points among Division I teams.
“It was huge for us,” said Destrehan head coach Jade Gallaher. “You know with these teams, it’s going to be a hard-fought, competitive game. These girls showed up to play. It comes down to who wants it more … I think they showed tremendous effort throughout the match. Even our girls on the bench kept the energy going throughout.”
Hahnville head coach Edgar Fuentes said in a Hahnville-Destrehan matchup, you can throw records and seeding out the window.
“I think that’s been established already. We’ll always give them our best and we know they’ll give their best. We had some missed chances tonight … you’ve got to put the ball in the net,” Fuentes said.
The playoff draws for each team were released this week. The No. 5 seed in Division I, Hahnville will play Airline at Tiger Stadium today (Jan. 29) at 3 p.m. Destrehan, meanwhile, earned the No. 25 seed and will visit No. 8 Captain Shreve on Saturday at 2:30 p.m.
The intensity of Friday’s rivalry game was a good primer for each side heading into the playoffs.
Destrehan goalkeeper Isabel Fontaine made 12 saves in the match. The freshman said she had some butterflies in her first-ever taste of the Destrehan-Hahnville rivalry clash.
“I was really nervous beforehand. I haven’t played in this game … I really saw how much it meant to everyone,” Fontaine said. “You could hear the parents in the crowd. It was very intense. The adreneline pushed me through … I saved one and after that I felt like, OK, I’ve got this.”
Her performance, and that of Destrehan’s defense as a whole, weighed heavily. Hahnville controlled much of the action in the Destrehan portion of the field, and got several scoring chances, but DHS was able to stave off the threat each time.
A header by Olivia Lendle nearly broke the tie, but just missed with 24 minutes remaining. A big save by Fontaine with 18 minutes to go, then a blocked Hahnville shot near the goal with 10 minutes left kept the scoreboard blank. A header in the final minute by Hahnville’s Lauren Oubre was blocked and that was the last real scoring threat by either side in the match.
“So much credit to our back line,” said Gallaher. “Grace Garcia, Valeria (Gonzalez) stepped up big time, blocking a lot of shots. Darlene Zuniga, Brooke Ledet, our defensive mids … I can’t commend our defensive effort enough tonight. Izzy (Fontaine) played a smart game. She’s a super athletic, talented kid. When you have it, you have it, and she does. Just so proud everyone tonight.”
The Hahnville defense was likewise very strong once again – Friday was its 13th shutout of the season.
“That comes down to the team as a whole … we have to work as a team, communicate, keep an eye on all players, watch film and prepare for how teams play,” said senior midfielder Taylor Madere.
The season the Tigers have had, she said, has in a big way been made possible by the way the team’s veteran upperclassmen and up and coming players have meshed together so well and so quickly.
“We’ve gotten a big boost with our freshmen class. A lot came in, stepped up and have really helped us,” said Madere. “We’re really a team and really together.”