Division II Champion: Ben Franklin

[CaddoMagnet]

2003
2003 Division II Girls
March 5, 2003
SSA Sports Complex, St. Scholastica
Ben Franklin 4 St. Scholastica 0

Up-and-coming Doves, Falcons out for title
Times-Picayune, The (New Orleans, LA) - Wednesday, March 5, 2003
Author: Jim Rapier Staff writer
It took only one year for Laura Carlin to experience some of the playoff frustration Art Lyons has experienced in almost a decade.

Carlin, in her second season as girls soccer coach at Ben Franklin High School, saw her team get beaten in the first round of the playoffs last year. Lyons is in his 10th season as soccer coach at St. Scholastica Academy. When he took over in 1993, the program had never won a district match. He improved the program until it made last year's semifinals, but it lost to St. Thomas More.

Ben Franklin plays at St. Scholastica today at 6 p.m. for the Division II state soccer championship.

"We had been up there, so close so many times," Lyons said. "Every year we try to take a step forward. This team had an opportunity, and sure enough we made it to the finals. Hopefully, we will do the job."

Carlin, a former collegiate player, said there is no mystery as to what has driven her team this year.

"I give all the credit to the girls," she said. "They came in 100-percent dedicated to turning it around after the disappointment of losing in the first round last year. That is one of the big things I have noticed this year -- their dedication. "

The Falcons (17-3-3) have beaten SSA (19-5-2) twice this season, 3-2 and 2-1. Both coaches said defense will be the key to winning the championship, and the balance and depth of their teams should lend to interesting matchups.

Leading the Doves are Caroline Voelkel, Meghan Tennyson, Casey Crawford, Anne Baldwin and Jennifer Davis, who give Lyons "the most balanced team I have ever had."

Ben Franklin has a strong finisher in Sarah Myers, who is complemented by Rebecca Abbott, Sarah Dendy, Elie Schneider and keeper Elizabeth Barnes.

Containing emotions for the final may be the final challenge for teams -- especially the coaches.

"It feels great," Lyons said. "I think the kids have stuck together so much this year, and we have overcome injuries this season to get here. "

"It is so exciting," Carlin said. "I am more nervous now as coach than I ever was as a player. As a player, I knew I could get in there and make a difference on the field. Now, as a coach, when the whistle blows, I have to hope everything I did prior to the match is correct. It is nerve-racking but fun."



Semifinal Results are:

Parkway 0
Ben Franklin 4
-Ben Franklin moves on to play St. Scholastica

St. Scholastica 3
Vandebilt Catholic 0
-St. Scholastica moves on to play Ben Franklin

Quarterfinal Results Are:

Parkway 2
Dutchtown1
-Parkway moves on to play Ben Franklin

Ben Franklin 9
Deridder 0
-Ben Franklin moves on to play Parkway

St. Scholastica
St. Thomas More 1
-St. Scholastica moves on to play Vandebilt Catholic

Vandebilt Catholic 4
Sam Houston 1
-Vandebilt Catholic moves on to play St. Scholastica

Bi-District Game Results:

Parkway 4
Opelousas 1
-Parkway moves on to play Dutchtown

Dutchtown 2
Pineville 0
-Dutchtown moves on to play Parkway

Deridder 5
Ursuline 2
-Deridder moves on to play Ben Franklin

Ben Franklin 7
Ellender 0
-Ben Franklin moves on to play Deridder

Bolton 1
Sam Houston 2
-Sam Houston moves on to play Vandebilt Catholic

Vandebilt Catholic 8
Bossier 1
-Vandebilt Catholic moves on to play Sam Houston

St. Scholastica 2
Bishop Sullivan 1
-St. Scholastica moves on to play St. Thomas More

[guestguest4]

Thank you for such fast response, caddo ~ ya'll do a really great job on this site.

[CaddoMagnet]

If anyone has questoins about directions to/from the fields, feel free to ask me. I may not know ALL answers, but I'm sure I could help.

[soccermom2003]

Congrats to Ben Franklin!

When we saw you play in DeRidder, we knew we were watching the eventual state champs.
Great end to a great season!

Well Done!

[Qapmoc]

Congrats to the STATE CHAMPS, " BEN FRANKLIN" from Parkway. Hope to see your team in the play-offs next year. We truely enjoyed our game with ya'll.

[#19]

SO how would a final ranking of the teams look? I think, based on playoff performances....

1. Ben Franklin
2. Parkway
3. St. Scholastica
4. Dutchtown
5. Bishop Sullian
6. STM
7. Vandebilt Catholic
8. Pineville
9. Opelousas
10. Sam Houston

[reply]

#19 said:

SO how would a final ranking of the teams look? I think, based on playoff performances....

1. Ben Franklin
2. Parkway
3. St. Scholastica
4. Dutchtown
5. Bishop Sullian
6. STM
7. Vandebilt Catholic
8. Pineville
9. Opelousas
10. Sam Houston

1. BF
2. SSA
3. STM
4. VC
5. Parkway
6. Dutchtown

pick'em from here down

[Div II Fan]

Congrats to Ben Franklin as they steam rolled their way to a state title.

Based on the scores I have seen during the season Ben Franklin and SSA should be the top 2 teams. After that most of the other schools look like they could beat each other on any given day. Coaches must look at the whole season not just the playoff results before voting for rankings. There were several interesting results before the playoffs. For instance Bishop Sullivan beat Vandebilt 3-1 before the playoffs. SSA beat Vandebilt 1-0 only to destroy them in the playoffs. Ben Franklin also struggled to a 1-0 win over Vandebilt during the season.

As far as the playoffs, STM really didnt play anybody and got dominated by SSA. Dutchtown struggled against lowly Pineville. Parkway in turn struggled against Dutchtown then got blasted by the state champs. Vandebilt got to the semis, but didnt have to play anybody until SSA. Bishop Sullivan was outmanned but gave SSA a good game. So as we can see ranking 3-10 will be difficult.

[WHY]

Why would Parkway be put in 5th? That doesn't make any sense.

[Why not]

Gotta rank BF first.

If Loyola beats Parkway.
and STM beats Loyola, then STM above Parkway.

If SSA beats STM then SSA AND STM above Parkway.

Guess you could put Parkway above Vanderbilt Catholic, but don't see any clear reason to do so.

Did VC ever play Dutchtown?

[guestguest4]

Again, looking at the whole season, BF has to be #1 - SSA #2 based on strength of schedule.

What about a ranking based on who's coming back next year? How many starting seniors are graduating from BF, STM, Parkway, SSA, Vandy, Sullivan, etc? BF is heavy in seniors, but do they start?

How many "key" seniors does each team lose?

[sockergurl]

ssa lost 2 seniors one was injured the entire time and one was injured most the season

[#19]

If I remember correctly, Parkway is losing 5 seniors. Doty who really showed for the D, Crystal at mid, as well as the three others who are all good. I'm sure 3 started, and pretty the other two did also. Biggest lost (although all of them are close) will probably be Doty.

[parkway sucks]

they are all horrible...they are a bunch of choke artists...i mean its not that hard to stop a girl...everyone says how awesome some of these players are...but i mean girl soccer players are like practice cones..they dont even move...i could crawl around a girl defender...oh well..its just an opinion...girls soccer is awful

[#19]

Wow!! You can juke a girl!! Next thing to work on is small children. Of course the girls soccer isn't as fast or whatever, this is true with just about any sport.

[look]

look #19 its obvious you have a thing for the parkway girls...doty in particular...do you even play soccer...from your recent posts it seems that you have no instinct for soccer...just keep hiding behind the computer and try to act like you know what youre talking about

i was just saying that girls soccer is so non competitive...its easy to be good in girls soccer..its all relative...the best male player is much more dominant than the best girls...not because he is a male..but because it takes much more to be good in guys soccer...its takes speed, skill, touch, knowledge and many more things to be the best in mens soccer..not in girls soccer...all you have to be able to do is dribble...think about it...you obvously dont know whats going on ...youre just another wannabe

[#19]

Yes,I do play, for Parkway. And I don't even know most of the girls team, but I have watched them play. I'll agree with you about relative dominance, but not that "girls are just practice cones and dont move" or whatever.

[SoCeRcHiC]

Anyone who is going to say that girls playing soocer are like practice cones is so ignorant it makes me sick! That is just plain ridiculous. Anyone who plays soccer, I would hope, has a respect for the game, not just men's soccer. There are some girl's teams who could murder many of the guy's teams. So if you hate girls soccer so much why dont you take your trash and go talk on the guys page. We dont want you here!

[JustAPlaya]

Girls' soccer is more physical than guys, although slower paced. Girls are naturally slower and have to play man defense as oppose to zone/position. You can't out-right compare the two with the same standards. Boys may hit harder but why don't one of you guys play with a girl from a decent team one day. Won't take long before you wish you could get her off your back.