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Post by copakid14 on Nov 14, 2007 2:06:53 GMT -6
I will do my best to keep everyone up to date on what's happening in the northern part of the state in D1. Good luck to everyone this year, should be some good games between the top 4. I expect the district title to be settled on Jan 26 between Magnet and Byrd but expect Shreve to be much stronger this year with a good chance to surprise the top 2. Here's my preseason prognosis of each team: 1st - Magnet (of course I'm biased!  ) Magnet lost 7 seniors last season but only 1 starter. The two senior captains were out all of last season due to knee injuries so some younger players got some good experience. There will be solid senior leadership from Celeste Goudeau and Forest Anne Bowman and they return the District Defensive MVP Cat Savage in the goal. This team's primary weakness last season was in the goal scoring department, this should be greatly improved this season with the addition of two outstanding freshman Hannah Thomson and Taylor Garten that will start up front and in the midfield. The Byrd games will be battles to the end as always but I expect Magnet to take back the District title this year. (can't pick against my own team!) 2nd - Byrd Byrd lost several seniors last season as well but they will just reload. They are a very deep team and if they can replace Jana Post in the middle they should be as strong as ever. I expect them to be stronger in the keeper position this year and very stingy defensively with Lacy Hannah and Page Pennock leading the way. Katie Drummond returns up front and is always dangerous in the attack. I expect Byrd to post several shutouts this season and like usual I expect low scoring 1 goal games with Magnet. 3rd - Captain Shreve I think Shreve is the dark horse in the district this year. They have some promising young talent that should help them improve immediately. They have a talented freshman forward Caydence Leber to compliment Abbie Cowley and should be strong defensively with Katie Norgard heading up the defense. They have a good chance to steal one from Magnet or Byrd and think they should hurdle Airline for the number 3 spot. 4th - Airline This team has a couple of the most talented players in the district in Jessica Davis and Becca B. Those two will have to carry this team as they are not very deep in other positions. I'm not sure on Airlines keeper situation this season but against Magnet it looked like a field player in the goal? Airline always seems to take a game from Magnet or Byrd every year so you can never take them lightly. Coach Alan does a good job keeping this team competetive with the player pool he has to work with. 5th - Southwood Southwood will struggle again this season and should only gain wins against Huntington. One positive is the addition of Melissa Whitaker, a transfer student, who should move up from the back to play center mid. Unfortunately for this team Mariah Hammer is still out recovering from ACL surgery in the fall. 6th - Huntington I admire the Huntington program for continuing to field a team, they are always in good spirits and really enjoy the game. Most of these girls have little to no experience but continue to try and improve their program. Of course these are just my opinions, we have a lot of games to play in the next few months and anything can happen. Again good luck to everyone and hopefully everyone will have a injury free successful season. |
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Post by copakid14 on Nov 14, 2007 2:10:21 GMT -6
11/13 non district game
Magnet 4
Airline 0
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Post by ShreveDad on Nov 14, 2007 7:18:22 GMT -6
Good breakdown of the teams by the Magnet coach. I would have to put teams in the same order. I was surprised by the 4-0 shutout of Airline by Magnet. Guess it shows if you can shut down Jessica you can beat Airline.
Shreve and Byrd play a district match tonight at 6 PM at Caddo soccer.
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Post by Tigertail on Nov 14, 2007 13:21:01 GMT -6
Byrd is coming down the River to play in our Battle on the Bayou Tournament at Hahnville.
Looking forward to extending them some "southern comforts" and giving them exposure in this part of the state outside of the playoffs.
We're excited they're making the trip!
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Post by copakid14 on Nov 14, 2007 23:39:35 GMT -6
Byrd 4
Shreve 0
Game was much closer than the scoreline shows. Score was 1-0 with roughly 10 minutes left in the game. Byrd scored 3 goals at the end with the aid of at least 20 mph wind. As predicted, Shreve is much improved this year. Their primary breakdown was at the outside mids defensively. Almost all the goals were scored from a ball played accross to an unmarked outside mid....something they should be able to correct with a little time and experience for those players. Overall Byrd got their result and Shreve proved they are dangerous and not to be taken lightly. Good game from both keepers and defenses.
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Post by ShreveDad on Nov 15, 2007 6:28:09 GMT -6
Goals were scored in the 46th, 74th, 77th and 79th minute. Congrats to Byrd, they played well. I was really impressed with their keeper. She came off her line well and took away almost all our crosses. Might have been a different result if the wind hadn't come up at halftime but that was just bad luck. Shreve girls played hard, just couldn't find enough offense to stay with the Jackets. If they keep playing as hard as they did last night this should be a good year for the Gators!
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Post by copakid14 on Nov 16, 2007 0:20:36 GMT -6
11/15
Caddo Magnet 8
Haughton 0
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Bench Warmer
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Post by on Dec 2, 2007 1:38:24 GMT -6
Byrd is returning 11 seniors and a strong group of underclassmen. Without getting into the chest beating that some of the other members like, Byrd's "pre-season" included scrimmages against West Monroe and Loyola. Byrd blanked both of those teams. So far in the regular season, Byrd beat Capt. Shreve and Huntington and lost to Neville. They played in the Hahnville tournament, and considering the competition, did not make too shabby a showing.
I have only seen Capt. Shreve play once this year, when they played Byrd. I have to agree with other members who think that this is the best Shreve has looked in a while. I don't agree, however, that the 4-0 win was because of the wind or that the result would have been different without the wind. Byrd had to control the ball in the wind just like Shreve did. The wind certainly did not blow the ball into the net. And during the same ten minutes that Byrd scored its 2d, 3d and 4th goals, they were playing without one of their starting defenders, who was invited to leave the field on a red card.
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Post by Tigertail on Dec 3, 2007 12:31:10 GMT -6
Wanted to comment on Byrd. Played in our tournament this weekend.
Obvious they are a disciplined, well-coached team. Went toe to toe with St. Charles Catholic (2-2 tie), Comeaux (0-0 tie), and fell to eventual tourney champ Baton Rouge 0-1, all in bracket play.
Stiff results against stiff competition. If the top 10 in D-1 was not so jam packed with solid teams, they would have gotten in mine. I was truly glad they got some exposure down south, they are a class act and an excellent team. Very positive and friendly fans as well.
We enjoyed hosting your team and watching you all play. Best of luck to the Lady Jackets the rest of your season!
--The HHS Soccer Nation
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Post by ShreveDad on Dec 4, 2007 7:34:04 GMT -6
Airline 5
Captain Shreve 2
Puts Shreve in a big hole and makes the Thursday match vs Byrd almost a must win to stay in the hunt for 3rd place in the district.
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Post by ShreveDad on Dec 4, 2007 7:42:54 GMT -6
I don't agree, however, that the 4-0 win was because of the wind or that the result would have been different without the wind. Byrd had to control the ball in the wind just like Shreve did. The wind certainly did not blow the ball into the net. And during the same ten minutes that Byrd scored its 2d, 3d and 4th goals, they were playing without one of their starting defenders, who was invited to leave the field on a red card. Disagree on this point. Match was 0-0 at the half with no wind advantage to either team. Our goal kicks went to midfield or close to it during the first half and we were lucky to get them 15 yards past the penalty area in the second. Your goalie punts were coming down around midfield in the first half and in the second half they were taking a bounce and ending up within 20 yards of our goal and in one instance went over the goal line. Didn't matter much who was playing defense for you because we had a hard time getting the ball over the midfield line. Odds are Byrd would have won anyway but I don't think it would have been a 4-0 final score. Byrd and Shreve play again Thursday at Caddo. 6 PM. Look forward to another good match between the 2 teams. |
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Post by copakid14 on Dec 5, 2007 23:37:40 GMT -6
12/5
Caddo Magnet 8
Airline 2
Magnet goes up 2-0 on goals by Celeste Goudeau in the first 20 mins of the game. Airline scores on a cross and then on a pk to tie it up after 35 mins. Magnet scores 1 more before half when Meredith Cupp scores on a cross. 3-2 halftime score. The second half Magnet finally starts finishing their chances and scores 5 unanswered. Goal scorers in second half were Kirra Glenn (2), Forrest-Anne Bowman, Madeline Wellborn, and Victoria Kamphuis. Kirra Glenn's goal was one of the nicest goals I have seen in a long time in girls soccer. Erin Brunson pushed the ball down the line on the right side, crossed to the far post where Kirra hit a full volley to the opposite upper ninety.
Good showing from Magnet after going to overtime with Airline in the Gator Cup. If we can consistently finish our opportunities like in the 2nd half tonight, we should do well this year. Next up Southwood tomorrow, West Monroe on Monday, then the St. Louis showcase next weekend.
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Post by copakid14 on Dec 6, 2007 22:20:43 GMT -6
12/6
Caddo Magnet 9
Southwood 0
Byrd 4
Captain Shreve 0
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Post by sportfan on Dec 7, 2007 7:30:48 GMT -6
Byrd 4 Shreve 0 in round two. I wonder how the wind was last night...maybe the humidity this time?
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Post by ShreveDad on Dec 11, 2007 6:50:27 GMT -6
Byrd 7 Airline 0 Byrd and Magnet now well ahead of the others in district. Sets up a great match between these two teams on Jan 8th. Shame we have to wait that long to see these 2 play each other.
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Post by greenfury05 on Dec 11, 2007 10:29:57 GMT -6
copakid,
Caddo and Byrd are going down south for the St. Louis torney, how will those two do against their other bracket opponents?
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Post by copakid14 on Dec 11, 2007 10:52:48 GMT -6
copakid, Caddo and Byrd are going down south for the St. Louis torney, how will those two do against their other bracket opponents? For Caddo Magnet, as with most teams, it will come down to finishing opportunities. Our biggest issue this season has been letting teams hang around even though we have had the better run of play (as was the case with Mandeville). We have had several games with over 30 shots and less than 3 goals. That is not going to cut it when you play good teams and the opportunities are much harder to come by. Our defense hasn't been tested much yet and I am curious to see how they respond when under heavy pressure. I have not seen any of the teams we are facing in bracket play this season and have just been following results on this board. As we all know that doesn't mean a whole lot, each game will come down to match-ups. I am anticipating close games between all of these teams with the possibility of each team taking a loss or a tie or two. As for Byrd I think they will match up well against the teams in their bracket. They are physical and very strong defensively and have an excellent keeper. It is difficult to score goals on them and I think the same question holds true as with Magnet....can they score on these teams? We have played on the same night as Byrd for the last few weeks so I have not watched them since their first game with Shreve. That game was close until the end but that was very early in the season. Judging by their 7-0 win against Airline last night Coach Leverman has them playing well and they should be full of confidence. Besides putting the ball in the net, I think the key to Byrd's success will hinge on their midfields ability to build their attack and get numbers forward versus playing direct to 2 forwards 2v4. I won't make any predictions on individual scores of games. I will just say that both teams have the talent and ability to win their bracket if they play to their potential. Good luck to the YellowJackets this weekend. Let's earn N. LA some respect! |
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Post by wmrebel on Dec 15, 2007 23:48:36 GMT -6
Wanted to comment on Byrd. Played in our tournament this weekend. Obvious they are a disciplined, well-coached team. Went toe to toe with St. Charles Catholic (2-2 tie), Comeaux (0-0 tie), and fell to eventual tourney champ Baton Rouge 0-1, all in bracket play. Stiff results against stiff competition. If the top 10 in D-1 was not so jam packed with solid teams, they would have gotten in mine. I was truly glad they got some exposure down south, they are a class act and an excellent team. Very positive and friendly fans as well. We enjoyed hosting your team and watching you all play. Best of luck to the Lady Jackets the rest of your season! --The HHS Soccer Nation I don't usually check this thread but I felt the need to respond to this....thanks for posting this tigertail .... the Byrd players, parents, and coaches are ALWAYS a class act! WM has played them for the last 4 or 5 years and you speak the truth. It's nice to see someone make some positive comments about a visiting team when they are deserved. Good luck to Byrd in district play. When is the next match with Caddo....will that decide 1st and 2nd??? |
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Post by copakid14 on Dec 16, 2007 10:08:42 GMT -6
Caddo Magnet and Byrd results from St Louis Showcase:
Magnet 3
Acadiana 2
Magnet 1
Ursuline 0
Magnet 0
St Louis 1
Byrd 0
Lafayette 2
Byrd 3?
Comeaux 0
Byrd 1
Barbe 1
St Louis and Lafayette advanced to final with St Louis winning 2 - 0. Good showing by both teams in this tournament.
Should be a great matchup on Jan 8th between Magnet and Byrd for 1st place.
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Post by diverdo on Dec 16, 2007 23:04:18 GMT -6
copakid14, Caddo Magnet is an excellent team, well-coached with several excellent skill players but I do have to take exception to your parenthetical comment about letting Mandeville "hang around" - you and I must have been watching 2 different games. The championship game of the Captain Shreve tournament was well-played and evenly matched - it was a shame for either team to lose or perhaps Magnet was lucky to get it to overtime? Keep in mind that the Mandeville team played 5 games in less than 24 hrs - with the PK win over Magnet being the last.
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