To the St. Louis Catholic girls soccer team, it doesn’t matter what seed they are, only that their goal is to reach the state final again.

The Louisiana High School Athletic Association released the soccer playoff brackets Tuesday afternoon. The Saints are the No. 5 seed in Division III after earning the two seed last season.

“We didn’t get the high seed we wanted today,” St. Louis girls head coach Alex Kjellsten said. “But at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter, is what we tell the girls.

“If you want to be the best, you have to beat the best. Anybody, any place, it doesn’t matter. We are going to give it our all no matter what.”

There is a chance for a rematch with defending state champion Parkview Baptist in the semifinals, but the Saints (13-3-5) say they are only worried about their next opponent. They will host No. 28 Opelousas (6-11-1).

Kjellsten said he expects the game to be played Friday but hasn’t finalized plans.

“We know Parkview is there, but we are not focusing on them,” he said. “We are taking it one game at a time. If it gets to that stage, we will be ready for it, but we are focusing on our first playoff matchup.”

After going 2-3-1 in their opening six games, the Saints turned their season around and closed 12-0-3 and haven’t lost since Dec. 7. The Saints shut out their final five opponents, including four second-half goals to beat Southside 4-0 on Monday.

The St. Louis boys also earned a first-round playoff game and will likely play following the girls game. The No. 6 Saints (7-7-4), who won the Division III, District 3 championship, will play No. 27 Acadiana Renaissance Charter (5-13-3) in the bi-district round.

Like St. Louis, both of Barbe’s soccer teams will be home in the first round for the first time since 2017.

“We are extremely pleased to see both teams play at our complex,” Barbe boys head coach Todd Hoffpauir said. “It is something you work on all year long. It says a lot about everyone in our program.”

The 16th-ranked Barbe girls (12-7-4) will host district rival Southside (8-12-4) at 2 p.m. Saturday and the boys game will follow at 5 p.m. with No. 11 Barbe (10-5-6) taking on No. 22 Alexandria (9-10-3).

“Everyone on the boys side is super competitive, so even our first-round game will be a real test,” Hoffpauir said. “ Hopefully we can advance to the second round. Alexandria is a very difficult team.”

The Barbe girls reached the semifinals last season after beating three top-10 seeds. They tied Southside 1-1 in the regular season

The Barbe boys won their first district championship since 2001. They shared the title with Southside after the Sharks tied Acadiana 1-1 on Monday.

Area soccer pairings

Bi-district Round
Boys
Division I
No. 19 Sulphur at No. 14 Dutchtown, 5 p.m. Friday.
No. 22 Alexandria at No.11 Barbe, 5 p.m. Saturday.
Division II
No. 20 Neville at No. 13 Sam Houston, 6 p.m. Friday.
Division III
No. 32 Washington-Marion at No. 1 Loyola Prep, 6 p.m. Friday (Messmer Stadium, Shreveport).
No. 20 South Beauregard at No. 13 Erath, 6 p.m. Friday.
No. 22 Port Allen at No. 11 DeRidder, 1 p.m. Saturday.
No. 27 Acadiana Renaissance Charter at No. 6 St. Louis Catholic, 7:30 p.m. Friday (McNeese State soccer field).
Girls
Division I
No.17 Southside at No. 16 Barbe, 2 p.m. Saturday.
No. 24 Sulphur at No. 9 Fontainebleau, 6 p.m. Thursday.
Division II
No. 19 Sam Houston at No. 14 Ruston, 5 p.m. Friday
Division III
No. DeRidder at No. 9 South Beauregard, 1 p.m. Saturday.
No. 28 Opelousas at No. 5 St. Louis Catholic, 5:30 p.m. Friday (McNeese State soccer field)
No. 18 Leesville at No. 15 Cecilia, 5:30 p.m. Friday.