Last season marked the St. Louis Catholic girls soccer team’s first appearance in a state championship game since 2010, and they are trying to build toward another deep playoff run.

With eight starters back, including their top two goal scorers and a three-year starter in goal, the Saints (8-3-5) are ranked No. 3 in the Division III Louisiana High School Athletic Association power ratings. They haven’t lost since Dec. 7, a string of 10 games.

“Going into this year, we’re not trying to restart,” Saints head coach Alex Kjellsten said. “We’re kind of trying to pick up from last year and continue doing the small things well to play for each other and to really mesh together as a team.

“I think what I’ve seen in the last 10 games is that we aren’t concerned about who gets the goal or who gets to shoot the free kick or the penalty kick. It’s ‘We scored a goal,’ not ‘I scored a goal.’ We did that as a team. We won this game together as a team or we fought together as a team for this game.”

St. Louis lost to Parkview Baptist in the final last season on penalty kicks.

The Saints are not taking the easy path in their attempt to get back to the final. The Saints have played 10 teams ranked in the top 10 five of the top 10 in Division III.

“We’ve had some very tough games where we came out with ties and some very tough games that could have gone either way that come out as ties,” Kjellsten said. “And then we have a few that we scraped out some wins and maybe a couple that we got unlucky on and ended up losing those games.

“But the girls have come a very long way from the beginning of the season. They’ve really meshed up as a team as the season has been going on.”

Junior goalkeeper Caroline Avery has allowed 10 goals in 16 games and averages three saves a game.

“She has a lot more confidence and she’s just a super tough goalkeeper,” Kjellsten said. “She’s not afraid to go up in the air and win a ball with girls trying to knock her over She’s not afraid to come out of her goal and slide tackle. She’s not afraid to dive. It’s really cool to see. She’s just a gritty goalkeeper.”

Senior forward Emma Roach and junior attacking midfielder Addie Flavin combined for 42 goals last season. They lead the Saints with seven and 11 goals, respectively. Junior forward Kylie Pousson has five goals and seven assists, and senior Addison Moreno has five goals. The Saints have been able to spread the ball around with 15 players with at least one goal or assist.

“Really, we’re kind of spreading the ball all over the field and a lot more players are getting opportunities to shoot the ball, which is great and is what we want to see,” Kjellsten said.

The Saints lost district defensive MVP Charlie Maze to graduation but junior Lizzy Mundy has stepped up to lead the backline that includes seniors Anna Cate Flavin and Brooke Miles with Goodwin and Lilly Liles at the defensive midfield positions.

Looking to the playoffs that start in two weeks, Kjellsten said the Saints are working on strengthening the defense and taking advantage of more scoring opportunities.

“We’re real trying to shore up our back line, defensive line, and making sure that we’re all on the same page,” Kjellsten said. “That way we stay connected. That when we shift from one side of the field to the other everybody’s supposed to be shifting, and we’re not leaving gaps in our back line.

“Offensively, throughout the season it’s getting better now. We’ve had multiple opportunities at goals, but sometimes we don’t finish the shots that we need to. So we’ve been working really hard on hitting that ball low and into the corner.”