HHS boys pick up overtime win over ESJ

The Hahnville boys soccer team got their second wind after the end of regulation against East St. John, scoring in the first overtime period to knock off the Wildcats 2-1.

The Wildcats started out the contest fast as they normally do but the Tiger defense held strong with great saves by goal keeper Mason Boyer and freshman midfielder Bailey Breaux.

The Tigers had equal opportunities with powerful shots by Bryan Bennet, Reid Gautreaux, Craig Ford and Johnathan Schmaltz.  However, the speed of the Wildcats on defense shut down most of the Tiger breakaways while the Wildcat goal keeper made some fine saves to keep the game locked at 0-0 heading into halftime.

Both teams picked up the pace at the start of the second half with early scoring opportunities by both squads. This fast pace of play led to a goal for the Wildcats off of a throw in deep in the Tigers half of the field.

The 1-0 lead for the Wildcats, which came 10 minutes into the half,  would remain as such until a steal by Breaux and  a quick pass to BJ Hartman.

Hartman took a shot on goal, which  rebounded off of an East St. John defender to Breaux for a shot.

Breaux fired, hitting the crossbar, but the ball again rebounded to a Tiger. This time Mitchell Eilers finished the shot and tied the game.

Regulation would end with both teams tied at 1-1.

With the start of the first 10-minute overtime period the Wildcats showed signs of fatigue with a few players cramping.

The Tigers, on the other hand, seemed recharged off of the late goal by Eilers.

Hahnville continued to pressure the ball into the Wildcats half of the field for shot opportunities.  Five minutes into the period, the Tiger defense cleared the ball to Bennet, who worked it past the Wildcat defense towards the goal.

Bennet’s shot was mishandled by the keeper and managed to get through for the leading goal.

The Tigers held on for the rest of the period to get this overtime district win over East St. John.

The win over the Wildcats came on the heels of a Tiger defeat to St. Amant.

Both teams started out hard and fast with plenty of possession changes early.

St. Amant got on the board early when a miscommunication by the Tigers defense allowed the St. Amant forward to work the ball in close enough for a shot past the Tiger goalie.

The Tigers answered quickly with a possession steal by the Tiger defense, a quick pass to Johnathan Schmaltz to work the ball to midfield then an pass to Bryan Bennet to finish the play with a goal to tie up the game at 1-1.

Right before the end of the first half the Tigers were awarded a corner kick to be taken by Brennen Samaha.  Samah placed the ball in perfect position for Bennet to crash the goal making contact with the ball to score the go ahead goal.  The half ended 2-1 in favor of the Tigers.

The second half seemed to be a slow start for the Tigers with St. Amant taking advantage of this with an early goal off of a corner kick to tie the game.

This woke the Tigers up for the remainder of the half of good play on both sides of the ball.  Tiger defense led by Senior Captain Austin Freeman, Junior Forest Muller and Sophomore goalie Mason Boyer held the game within reach for the Tigers.

With time running out and the pressure to make something happen, a Tiger defender got called for a tripping foul giving the Gator’s a free kick from the 25-yard line.

With this kick the St. Amant striker made the goal and seemed to take the wind out of the Tiger’s sails.

The game would end 3-2 for a heart breaking loss for the team.

 

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