The St. Louis Catholic girls soccer team is looking to make another deep playoff run and end a long absence from the state title game when the Saints open the Division III playoffs on Friday.

The Saints (15-4-1) earned the area’s top seed, No. 2 in Division II, after the Louisiana High School Athletic Association released the playoffs bracket Monday afternoon.

“We are very excited about it,” St. Louis head coach Alex Kjellsten said. “Our girls have worked hard to get that seed. It is going to be very cool to play a lot of these games in front and our city. All that hard work they did has paid off.”

St. Louis hasn’t played in a state title game since 2010. They have played in the semifinals four of the last six seasons.

The Saints reached the semifinals last season, losing

to Archbishop Hannan 3-0, and Kjellsten said the extra year of work will help them break through the semifinals. They will host No. 31 Cabrini at 4 p.m. Friday at Cowgirl Field in the first round.

“I think we have grown in experience,” Kjellsten said. “The girls that are playing now, a lot of them have been starting since they were freshmen.

“Just having another year of experience under our belts is going to go a long way. We definitely remember that loss in the semifinals last year, and it has been motivating for us to keep working hard and to know in the later rounds it is going to get tough. We just have to be prepared for it.

“The most important thing is that we have to play as a team. We have to come to practice every day with the right mind-set. We have to stay focused, watch film and understand what the other team is doing.”

St. Louis has outscored its opponents 71-14, led by Emma Roach (15 goals, 10 assists), Addison Moreno (9 goals, 10 assists), Adelaide Flavin (17 goals, 7 assists) and Kylie Pousson (5 goals, 13 assists).

The Saints are coming off a 1-1 tie with Division I No. 6 Southside (19-2-5) and are 7-0-2 in their last nine games.

“Southside is a great team,” Kjellsten said. “They are ranked high in Division I.

“They have had a lot of wins this year versus big teams. It was a battle. It was like a playoff atmosphere. We played at McNeese. It got a little chippy. It was exactly what we think the playoffs are going to be. I think our girls are going to be a lot more ready to face those tougher teams in the playoffs because of it.”

The Saints are one of three area teams that reached the semifinals, along with the St. Louis and Sulphur boys.

Boys Pairings

The St. Louis boys (11-6-7) will open the playoffs at the No. 5 seed in Division III and will play No. 28 Lutcher at 6 p.m. Friday at Cowgirl Field. The Saints lost to Bossier 1-0 in the semifinals in 2023.

The Tors (12-4-4) are the nine seed in Division I and will host No. 24 Walker at 6 p.m. Friday. In their first appearance in the semifinals last year, the Tors lost 1-0 to Dutchtown.

 

Bi-district playoffs

Local pairings

Boys

Division I

No. 17 Brother Martin at No. 16 Barbe, , Friday, 3:30 p.m.

No. 24 Walker at No. 9 Sulphur, Friday, 6 p.m.

Division II

No. 18 East St. John at No. 15 Sam Houston, Friday, 6 p.m.

Division III

No. 25 West Feliciana at No. 8 DeRidder, Thursday, 6 p.m.

No. 28 Lutcher at No. 5 St. Louis Catholic, Friday, 6 p.m. (Cowgirl Field)

No. 21 South Beauregard at No. 12 Belaire, Thursday, 5 p.m.

No. 19 Kenner Discovery Health Science at No. 14 Leesville, Thursday, 5:30 p.m.

Girls

Division I

No. 19 East Ascension at No. 14 Sulphur, Thursday, 6 p.m.

No. 18 Barbe at No. 15 West Monroe, Thursday, 5:30 p.m.

Division II

No. 17 Archbishop Chapelle at No. 16 Sam Houston, Friday, 3:30 p.m.

Division III

No. 21 Leesville at No. 12 Ursuline Academy, Friday, 5 p.m. (Lafreniere Park)

No. 20 DeRidder at No. 13 Cecilia, Friday, 5:30 p.m.

No. 23 St. Martinville at No. 10 South Beauregard, Friday, 6 p.m.

No. 31 Cabrini at No. 2 St. Louis Catholic, Friday, 4 p.m. (Cowgirl Field)