bayoupreps.com/?p=2574St Louis Catholic - Vandebilt Catholic article from the The Courier
LAKE CHARLES — A battle between two of the state’s soccer powerhouses, each on a quest for its eighth boys title in school history, went to St. Louis Catholic on Saturday.
With a 1-0 victory over Vandebilt Catholic in the Division II championship match at the McNeese State Soccer Complex, the No. 1 Saints won their eighth title in nine title match appearances.
The No. 3 Terriers stayed stuck on seven titles in 13th trips to the title match.
Matthew Jester’s goal after a near-post cross from Hunter Hodgkins with 22:30 left in the first half was the difference and lifted St. Louis to the win.
It was also the first postseason goal allowed by the Terriers and freshman goalie Patrick Watson, who was up to the task of stopping every other St. Louis shot.
St. Louis also topped Vandebilt (21-9-1 overall), which last won a state title in 2007, 2-1 in the Division II title match last season.
“I thought Vandebilt played an incredible game,” St. Louis coach Jason Oertling said. “I thought coming in that we were the better team if we played our game, but they gave us everything that we could handle. Their coaches prepared them for us. It was an ugly game, but the kids battled through. When you have four shutouts in the playoffs it says a lot about our character and our will to keep the other team out of the net.”
The Terriers had limited offensive chances in the first half.
“They opened us up in the first half, and we got out of our normal game,” Michael Blanchard, one of 10 Vandebilt seniors, said. “The second half was a good half. We just couldn’t hold on on the attacking side, and we couldn’t get enough shots off. We couldn’t get any good chances. Things didn’t go our way.”
Vandebilt second-year head coach Matt Kelso said the Saints used their normal, aggressive style all the way through
“Credit to St. Louis first off,” Kelso said. “They have a great, fantastic squad. They always have. They controlled the tempo in the first half and made it hard for us to get any sort of momentum whatsoever. We made mistakes and they were pressing us, pressing us and pressing us. We expect that from St. Louis.”
The Terriers had more chances in the second half. A couple headers went wide of their target, Blanchard had a chance after a penalty and there were others. Kelso said the best chance would have been a penalty kick inside the box after he said he saw a Vandebilt player taken out while attempting to score on a ball played into the box during the game’s final 10 minutes.
“In the second half, we worked ourselves back into the game,” Kelso said. “I just can’t get over that call. I have been in the game almost 30 years and I have never seen a guy get upended like that in the box and then have an indirect free kick called. I have never seen a call such as that. I am bummed, but credit St. Louis. They deserve to be the champions this year. Congratulations to them.”
In the end, St. Louis, which got a clean-sheet performance from goalie Marty France, made its best scoring chance count and the Terriers could not find the equalizer.
“We talk about it all the time,” Kelso said. “When you get to these championship games, it comes down to a set piece here or there or a mistake here or there, and we got burned with a mistake at the near post for their goal. We had a couple of chances in the second half, and we speak about those things, but tonight was St. Louis’s night. I am very proud of my guys, but at the same time very disappointed.”
Oertling said winning another state title after losing 16 seniors last year and with only four seniors this year made the victory all the more special.
“It feels great,” Oertling said. “We came in tied with Vandebilt for state championships. They have such a great coaching staff and a great tradition so when you beat a team with the tradition they have you feel like you really earned it. It’s tough when you lose 16 seniors and you are still expected to win state every year. It says a lot about our kid not using losing those seniors as an excuse, but working that much harder to keep that tradition going.”