2002-2003 Finals: Jes 2 Laf 1 articles

[tiger]

Jesuit was up 2-0 when Lafayette scored in injury time at the end of the game to make it 2-1. Congratulations to both teams on great years.

[timaeus]

www.nola.com/sports/t-p/index.ssf?/base/sports-1/1047194701178336.xml

Jesuit edges Lafayette for title



Sunday March 09, 2003


By Jim Rapier
Staff writer


Lafayette threw a frantic rally at Jesuit in the final minutes of the boys Division I soccer state championship.

But Lafayette could not stop the Blue Jays from creating a new chapter in the school's rich soccer history. Jesuit's 2-1 victory Saturday at Tad Gormley Stadium gave it its second consecutive state championship, its fourth in 10 years and first-ever title defense.
From Our Advertiser

It also was Hubie Collins' first state championship as head coach. Collins became head coach when Garry Ortner retired after last year.

"I haven't had a chance to really think about it all, my first title as head coach, the first back-to-back titles," Collins said. "It is just really a great achievement for the boys."

The title seemed secure until the final seven minutes. The Blue Jays (27-1-4) led 2-0 and had outshot Lafayette (22-7) 7-0 in the second half until the 73rd minute. Then, the Lions began to create scoring chances and Joey Belfour scored in the 79th minute.

Lafayette kept up the pressure and Jesuit keeper Sean Munro made a one-handed save of a header in the upper-left corner of the goal during extend time.

"You are always afraid that a goal will make it a little too interesting, and they scored and it became a little too interesting," Collins said.

Jesuit scored its first goal when Lee Thomas headed a corner kick from Kyle Schmidt in the 28th minute. The Blue Jays had seven shots in the final 13 minutes of the first half, and the momentum seemed to carry over to the second half.

"At halftime we knew we had to settle into our game and get some good touches," said Jesuit's Casey Steen, who was selected Most Outstanding Player. "There was still a lot of soccer to be played."

The Blue Jays scored their second goal in the 55th minute when Brandon Sanchez settled under a high pass in the box with his back to goal and bi-cycled a pass to Eddie Cullen, who dribbled right and scored.

Jesuit seemed in control until Lafayette made its final push.

"Give them (Lafayette) credit, they gave a real fight to the finish," Steen said. "It was a real fierce final two or three minutes, but we pulled it out."

[timaeus]

I just want to say that I gave Lafayette a chance. When the playoffs started, I picked them making it to the Finals only to lose to Jesuit by one.

www.theadvertiser.com/sports/html/23BA3C7C-3341-48F7-B72A-3A32F83A7889.shtml



Jesuit holds off Lafayette for state title
Glen Krieg
March 9, 2003
 
NEW ORLEANS — The Lafayette Mighty Lions’ boys soccer team played their Division I state championship game against the Jesuit Blue Jays in a foggy, dreary Tad Gormley Stadium.
The result would be like sunshine for the Blue Jays though, defeating the Lions 2-1 to win the Division I boys state championship.
“No one gave us a chance going into this one,” LHS coach Duaine Belfour said, “We were counted out early, but we ignored that and made sure not to get outplayed.”
The Blue Jays came into the game as the defending state champions and the No. 1-ranked team in the state, while the Lions (28-7) entered the game as the third place team from District 3.
The Lions felt they had a good opportunity to win, though, as they entered the game as one of the hottest teams in the state, having not lost a game since returning from the Christmas holidays.
That streak was ended as the Blue Jays used a combination of strong defense and excellent team play throughout the game.
The first half started very slowly for both teams as they tested each other out for the first 20 minutes.
Jesuit converted its first major chance with 13 minutes left in the half to take a 1-0 lead when Jesuit’s Kyle Schmidt sent a corner kick into a crowd of players in front of the net.
Lee Thomas soared above everyone to head the ball over Lion goalkeeper Carlos Thompson for the first goal.
After the goal, the teams played even for the remainder of the half as the Lions were able to get a good defensive play from Chris Belfour, who recorded a sliding tackle on a breakaway by Jesuit’s Edward Cullen to keep the game a one-goal contest.
Jesuit opened the second half of the game by firing multiple shots on goal, but were unable to convert the shots into goals as Lafayette appeared to dodge the storm.
Eventually the Blue Jays would score as Cullen was found himself inside of the goalkeeper box with the ball.
Cullen wasted no time as he beat Thompson to the right side of the net extending the Blue Jays lead to 2-0 just 15 minutes into the half.
The hard work paid off as the Lions would make the final minutes of the game tense as Joey Belfour put a rebound in the net during injury time.
“I hung around at the end of the box and it came to me,” Belfour said. “I just put it away and got the goal.”
The Lions would feed off of the fans energy and would get two more serious scoring opportunities that were stopped by Blue Jay goalkeeper Sean Munro, thus ending the game and the Lions’ championship hopes.
“I am very proud of our team,” coach Belfour said. “We came up on the short end tonight, but someone has to win the game. Our guys stepped up and played big. In this type of game everyone walks off the field a winner.”

[wheres hdkjga]

where's our game report from hdkjga? U always have good reports after LHS games. R U going to give us one today? I hope so.

[guestguest4]

those were some great photos by the Times picayune on the game- great job

[bad stats]

Times Picayune guy needs to get his stats right. LHS is 28-6 going into the game. Also there is no way Jesuit had 7 shots in the entire first half, much less in the last 7 minutes. Sounds like a biased press to me. Don't get me wrong, I have no problem with Jesuit winning, they are a good team, I just don't like biased press.

It's no shock, the Lafayette paper made Lafayette look bad. They glorify Acadiana. No pictures in that paper, but I bet you if Acadiana boys were playing, there would be. The Daily advertiser is junk.

[NA]

Hmm Daily Advertiser knocking the Lafayette Lions? Are you kidding me? I mean they are so biased against Acadiana. When the hay ride came around, the whole newspaper threw the blame on the hicks from AHS. Everytime I pick up the advertiser they say something so great about LHS with the little results they get. I can't recollect one time the Advertiser gloryfying the Rams. I can remember an article from the Second round when the Rams beat Destrehan 3-0 and LHS defeating some team 3-0 on the same night and the next day on the Advertiser, Lafayette has a half page on the cover on the sports page while AHS gets a little paragraph in the back of the newspaper. The article goes on to claim that LHS is a great posssession team blah blah when the only two great possession teams are Jesuit and Acadiana... Go cry about something else because Acadiana is NEVER and I mean never glorified by the Advertiser, if anything we get everything second-handed behind Lafayette. cry some more?

[futbol10]

i am so sure. i don't really follow any boys articles in the paper besides lafayette high, so i dont really know about the coverage for the acadiana guys, but i sure as h*ll know that they glorify your girls team. i cant even count on one hand how many times they praised your team, expecially marliese. so dont give any bull about how they never glorify you, b/c they do. nice try though.

[Reply to NA guest]

The Laf Advertiser has always shown biasness for the AHS soccer team. Several years ago it started with reports from Kevin Foote about "no Co-District champs" This is an ongoing conversation and debate. A most recent example of the Advertiser's bias for AHS is the article the day of the Jesuit/AHS quarter-final game. February 26, 2003 Page 3-C. Bottom of page, Bold Black Letters "No. 1 Rams Travel to No. 2 Jays" Article starts out commenting how the Rams have to travel for the second time in 3 playoff games. He then states "Even worse, they could be angry over having to travel to No. 2-ranked Jesuit of New Orleans."

Now my sources tell me that Jesuit has been ranked #1 for quite a while. Acadiana was not #1 going into the playoffs. They were #1 only in their district.

The article included a small insert from Mandeville stating "Mighty Lions hold off Mandeville, 2-1". Regular print, no bold letters and was not written by any Laf. Advertiser reporter.

The Laf Advertiser reporters have reported the wrong information on LHS players since early in the season and they take parts of their previous articles and try to make up a new article using the same wrong information they had previously. Any one reading this, for the record, the goalie for LHS is not a senior. The reporters for the Advertiser do not even take the time to verify their information.

Most recent article prior to the Final yesterday said nothing about LHS being ranked #4 in the State vs the #1 team. No, Mr. Foote only mentioned that LHS is #3 in their district. I would call this bias reporting. Why not note the State rankings of both teams?

My complaint about the reporters for the Laf newspaper cannot include Mr. Dan McDonald. He wrote the article about the LHS/AHS 2nd district game. Anyone who was not at the game would have been able to truly understand what happened in the game. His article was so clear that it was obvious he was there and understood the game of soccer.

About your lack of attention with the Destrahan/AHS game. You were away and LHS was here. Also both Destrahan and Byrd, who LHS played in Lafayette, were not ranked teams. Neither was Bourgeois, who AHS played in Lafayette for the first round(you got an article there). The same could not be said for LHS opponents in the first round, the #7 ranked Baton Rouge Catholic.

AHS needs the attention obviously. Let them have it everyone.

[just soccer]

It's not so much they're biased for or against any school. Reporters are just not that interested in soccer. Had Lafayette High been playing for the football or basketball state championship last night, there would have been more news coverage. Until we can bring 1000 fans to every district game, soccer will never get much attention from the media.

[Tad Gormley]

Does the championship always have to be at Tad Gormley stadium? The field was very slippery and the fog was so thick it was hard to see. The lines were faintly marked. Also, the stands seem so far away from the field. I guess I'm whining, but I would prefer LSU ladies field.

[Tad Gormley]

I'll admit I was against going to Tad Gormley in the past but the field was great. The size is just what a championship soccer game should be played on. No one can predict the weather as our meteorologist have proven over the past 2 weeks. Fog is moisture so naturally it would effect the grass. Both teams played under the same conditions. If you have a complaint make it Home field advantage. I'm curious as to whether either team got any of the proceeds from the game. The cost of the upkeep of the field is extremely high not to mention the cost of renting the field. Plus they had 4 people at the gate to collect out tickets but only one was to collect the money. Just for your information I read that it cost $300 for the gate keepers at each game played there. Look up "Tad Gormley" on the internet.

[jesuit]

just wanted to say, that second goal by Jesuit's #9, I think Cullen?, was impressive. Demonstrated great skill--megged one, juked another, and nailed his shot with great composure. Should have a promising future-keep it up. Congrats to the Blue Jays on a great season-you worked hard for your victory and deserve it

[NA]

AHS girls team glorified? This is a boys message board and you can cry about girl teams coverage on their board and stop whining. You say Acadiana needs more attention? I think we got enough attention already by our skills, not mouths. Only attention we needed to get was the fact that the State Championship game was played a few weeks ago and Jesuit won off of horrible officiating. Get over Lafayette. I mean AHS people atleast complain about things that actually matter, soccer games. Not the coverage of soccer games... So who wants the attention? AHS, hmmm I don't think that fits with us because we are not the ones whining about reporters, you only brought me in this discussion about reporters because you swear we get glorified. Next year we will give you a reason to glorify AHS...

[sorry NA]

but in all actuality the finals were played last night at tad gormely between lafayette and jesuit i even have a program from the game to prove it if you have any doubts

[To NA]

You are the one to start the complaint in your #6 reply about the newspaper not giving AHS the coverage. You want to muddy the waters about the mention of girls' soccer in reply #7. Read the rest of the replys to you about this. I guarantee they only apply to boys soccer. Grow up, AHS are a bunch of winers, as are their parents. What other team had their parents claiming dislocated collar bones for a loss of a game? I've never seen a player continue playing with a dislocated body part have you?

[To NA reply 13]

AHS coach made a statement in the Jan. 24, 2003 Laf Ad-vertiser that said "The poll after March 8(state finals) is the only one that matters.", however he was quoted to say after the Jesuit game that "the finals" were played at their quarterfinal game. He insulted every team that played in the playoffs and it is a good thing he is given up the coaching job. Of course the article was written by Mr. Foote, the #1 fan of AHS.

I quess we can't expect anymore from AHS than that. FACTS ARE FOR THE HIGH SCHOOL SOCCER SEASON 2002-2003 YOU LOST TO JESUIT IN THE QUARTER FINALS, NOT THE FINALS AND NOT EVEN THE SEMI FINALS. Live with it. However you ARE at the top of the list for sore losers and poor sportsmen.

[To Jesuit]

you are right. It was a great goal. One you expect from Cullom. Too bad the fog made it difficult to really enjoy it. Just think how much better it would have been on a clear day. Do you think any of the video's came out?

[meg]

i didnt see a meg?!? when did he meg someone