Saints sweep district titles

Published 5:49 pm Sunday, January 30, 2022

With its loss to North Vermilion and the end of a 19-year district championship run last season still on their minds, St. Louis Catholic didn’t let it happen again.

Junior Jackson Avery scored two second-half goals, and the Saints blanked the Patriots 2-0 to win the Division III, District 3 championship Saturday.

“It is definitely something that we talked about — only losing two district championships in the last 30 years,” St. Louis head coach Jason Oertling said. “That really hurt last year.

“Last and this year, (North Vermilion) has really built their program, and it is going to be a tough game. I am really proud of the guys from where we have come from to where we are now.”

The Louisiana High School Athletic Association will release the boys and girls soccer playoff brackets today. First-round games must be played by Wednesday.

After several missed scoring opportunities, Avery flicked a header in off a short pass from Adam Foreman in the 69th minute. He scored again with a minute left on a free-kick from just outside the 18-yard box from Stephen Polito.

Saint (15-5-5, 6-0) goalkeeper Noah Ellender made seven saves, including a diving save on a shot by Brenz Doucet in the 37th minute.

Girls

St. Louis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

N. Vermilion. . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Senior Goalkeeper Jessica Lytle made a huge last-second stop to help St. Louis win its fourth consecutive Division III, District 4 championship.

“It was a more physical game than we anticipated, but we stepped up and controlled the midfield,” St. Louis head coach Rachel Yoder said. “That was a great save. I definitely thought that was in, but (Lytle) came out of nowhere.”

St. Louis (12-6-4, 7-0) peppered the Patriots’ goal with five shots in the final 5 minutes of the game before North Vermilion (14-9-6, 6-1) almost spoiled the party. Cayla Carney fired a shot from 20 yards out to the right post, but Lytle the diving stop.

Emma Roach’s goal 2 minutes into the game put the Saints up 1-0, but they needed a quick counter-attack to retake the lead after North Vermilion tied it at 1-1 on a breakaway goal by Ashlyn Duhon 42nd minute. Freshman Edie Stickell scored the go-ahead goal on a flick from Gretchen Hanley in the 45th minute.

“That is just them believing in themselves and knowing they are not out of this gam,” Yoder said.