Tiebreakers may determine Wildcats’ district title hopes after scoreless draw

Friday night’s girls soccer showdown between highly ranked teams was thought likely to determine an eventual district champion, but there is still much work to do for both host Destrehan and Central Lafourche after the teams played to a scoreless tie at DHS.

It was the second matchup of the season between the teams, both entering that game ranked in Division II’s top five power point earners. It was also their second tie — the first matchup also played to a 0-0 tie in Raceland on Dec. 11 — meaning the district title may well come down to tiebreakers if each team wins out.

The first is goals scored in head to head play, which is already cemented as a tie. The second is goals scored differential in district play and the third comes down to power points. Goal differential is capped at three goals in any one match — beating one team 21-0 is no better than winning 3-0. Destrehan entered the week ranked third in power points and has four district matches left, and were it to repeat its efforts from the first round of district play, it would likely earn the title — but that’s a big if.

“At this point, we just have to put our best out there and look to win every game remaining,” said Destrehan coach Mert Deger. “We couldn’t really get things going offensively against Central. Our defense was solid, as it has been all year. They’re a very physical team and we just couldn’t connect on that one score we needed.”

Were the playoffs to start today, Destrehan would be the third seed in Division II, the highest seed in the program’s history.

The Wildcats could get an offensive boost from—ironically enough—the return of a key defensive piece. Goalkeeper Merritt Tompkins is soon set to return from injury, and in her stead, Tayler Tabb has been manning goal. Tabb is one of the Wildcats’ standout offensive players and would then be back on the attack.

Defensively, Destrehan has been special.

The Wildcats have allowed five total goals this season, one coming in 1-0 loss to E.D. White, one in a 3-2 win over Sacred Heart, and two over a pair of games the team won by six or more goals. The Central Lafourche game Friday was Destrehan’s 13th shutout of the year.

“We’ve made it really hard for teams to score. The goals we allowed were on an individual mistake here and there, but teams haven’t really been able to break us down,” Deger said.

Destrehan will play consecutive road games on Friday and Saturday, traveling to face South Terrebonne on Friday in district action, then for a non-district game Saturday at St. Charles Catholic.

 

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