MICHAEL KIRAL / L’Observateur / February 11, 2000

LAPLACE – The St. Charles Catholic Comets showed the meaning ofpersistence Thursday night.

Just missing getting on the scoreboard time and time again against Catholic- Pointe Coupee, Phillip Hoffman knocked in a shot with 18 minutes left in the game to break the stalemate as the Comets went on to 3-0 victory in the bi- district playoff at Thomas Dupuy Stadium.

St. Charles Catholic, the District 8-III co-champions at 13-4-1, move on toplay the Pearl River-Parkview Baptist winner in the regionals next week.

Pointe-Coupee finished its season at 2-4.

St. Charles Catholic controlled the second half but could not find its mark.That ended as Stefan Villafana chased down a corner kick in the left corner and passed to Hoffman. Hoffman took the pass on the left side and directeda kick that sailed over a crowd in front into the right corner of the net at the 22-minute mark.

That opened the floodgates for the Comets. Three minutes later, Elinus Noelchased down a long pass between two defenders on the right side. Noel senta header over goalie Ben Jarreau charging out, regained possession and tapped in a shot, giving the Comets a 2-0 lead.

On the Comets’ next trip down the field, Justin Chauvin sent in a free kick that sailed wide. Jon Boucvalt then tried a header that sailed over the top ofthe net. After a header by Chauvin sailed high, Villafana sent a corner kick toNoel. Noel sent a pass in to Boucvalt for a header but Jarreau dove to makethe stop.

The Comets got back on the scoreboard at the 38 minute mark as Andrew Revall took a drop ball and sent a pass to Boucvalt. Boucvalt got past theHornet defense and angled a shot past Jarreau into the right corner of the net.

“It took us a while to get going,” St. Charles Catholic coach Mickey Simonsaid. “But the kids always bring determination to the game. They showed alot of persistence. We told them at halftime to be patient and keep takingshots and it worked out for us. They kept playing and stayed focused andthey were determined to get those goals.”St. Charles Catholic got a scoring opportunity in the first two minutes asMihran Naljayan sent a pass to Boucvalt in the box. Boucvalt angled a shot tothe right side but had it hit off the goal post. Boucvalt then took a pass fromVillafana but had his shot go just high.

Pointe-Coupee had its best scoring opportunity of the first half at the 21- minute mark as Chris Jarreau sent a shot through the crease wide. With twominutes left in the half, Erik Landry chased down a pass in the left corner and sent a shot toward goal that Comet goalie Kurt Biven dove on.

The Comets kept up the pressure as the second half opened. Chauvin sent apass to Hoffman whose shot from in front hit the crossbar. Two minuteslater, Hoffman took another shot from just outside the box that rolled just wide right. Six minutes into the half, Noel stole a pass in the Hornet end andsent a shot that was deflected wide by a diving Jarreau.

Pointe-Coupee had a chance at the 13-minute mark as Jarreau sent a long pass to Landry behind the Comet defense but Landry could not chase it down before it went out of bounds.

St. Charles Catholic came back as Hoffman tried a kick from the left sidethat sailed wide right. Hoffman got the ball back but had a shot on goaldeflected away by the Hornets’ Brad Morgan at the 18-minute mark.

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