By ROBERT L. LEE

LAPLACE – The 2001-2002 soccer season has proved to be dramatic for the area’s girls’ and boys’ teams. Hahnville’s Lady Tigers have been running through an undefeated season, quenching their district and an automatic spot in the playoffs.

Destrehan’s boys’ soccer would hold the same honors, would it not have been for four games with Central Lafourche (2), Brother Martin and St. Martin’s Episcopal. Other than the four losses in 15 games to some of the top teams, Destrehan’s coach Earl Rogers said his team should be in a solid second place for the playoffs.

Currently, the Fighting Wildcats are second in their district to Central Lafourche and should host West Monroe for the first round of playoffs.

The Lady Comets have had a rough while in the third year of trying to build up the school’s soccer team.

Coach Mary Price said she has been working on everything with her team, but feels like the girls are giving up after some big losses.

“The season’s not over and we will play everybody again,” said Price. “I may switch a few players’ positions. I have seen some improvement since the beginning of the season, but I think we’ve reached a plateau at the moment.”

Destrehan’s girls’ soccer lost some of their important seniors last year and although it took them a while to get things together, a mid-season tournament launched tougher competition.

“We had some players out and we were playing some tough competition, so others stepped up in different positions,” explained coach Joan McClung.

“It’s kind of a young group, but that’s when they started gelling and things were clicking a lot better.”

McClung said her team has been working “extremely hard” in practice and trying to make up for injuries late last seasons. The team’s dedication is showing in their consistent Saturday practices.

The late injuries hurt Destrehan’s chances in the playoffs, they were knocked out in the first round by Lafayette, but McClung claims her team is back and feeling very positive about their performance.

She expects her team to be ranked third and take on either Chapelle or Mt. Carmel to begin the playoffs.

“I never say I’m confident, just that this year we’ll do the best we can,” said McClung.

So far, she said her two top scorers have been Pelayr Ordoyne and Brittany McClung, who is about six goals away from 100.

She also commended freshman Valerie Delatte for her passing, aggression and for the most assists of any player on the team.

“It’s been a season of firsts for Destrehan,” explained the boys’ coach, Rogers. “It was the first time we’ve beat Hahnville, we’ll make playoffs for the first time.”

Also a first is the parents’ booster club. Rogers said he wanted the parents to work with him on the team and they have been doing a great job helping take care of the boys.

He said only one of the team’s goals didn’t take shape, winning the district championship. “That one got away from us,” he added.

“Central Lafourche beat us and there’s no excuse, but the kids are really coming together to play good ball,” Rogers continued.

He said the team has a plethora of talent this season and thanked his assistant coach Antonio Morales for his excellent work with the team, especially considering this is Rogers’ first year as head coach. He has been a football and track coach for a number of years, but is just now taking to the soccer field.

“Tony, the parents and the physical conditioning, that’s the big difference,” said Rogers.

“The boys are in great physical shape and are really, really working hard this year. I am proud of the way the guys have been playing. Despite every low, the boys respond well and they approach adversity well.”

He said it took three weeks to find the players’ positions, but said everything is where it belongs now.

“I’m confident, but we still have to play hard,” Rogers said. “Some teams don’t have the best records on paper, but any of them could still beat us on the field.”

Hahnville’s Patrick Halloran said the Lady Tigers are looking to have their first playoff game sometime before Feb. 12. He said the team will have a bye game for the first round, then play the second.

Halloran has been the Lady Tigers’ assistant coach for the past three years, before becoming the head coach this season.

He said the girls have done well the last few years while building the team, which has resulted into an amazing 2001-2002 season.

“Of the players starting on the field, five are seniors who are playing very well,” said Halloran.

“We also have a tremendous freshman class.” Out of the 11 freshmen on the team, four start the game on the field.

“We’re very lucky with that,” he continued. “The freshmen give us a lot of depth, which we hadn’t had in the past. And, of the 11, probably eight have previous experience.”

Halloran said he has a healthy number of juniors and freshmen who can be rotated well onto the field for the varsity team, which almost spells the end of the Lady Tigers’ rebuilding.

“I thought we had a chance to do well, but after out first tournament, we did so well against some teams, I was confident we could go undefeated,” he added.

With the younger players showing their enthusiasm, the older players have stepped up to help guide them, which has built a strong team unity.

But, Halloran said there is always room for improvement. Although he said everybody is playing on the field and no one person is carrying the team, when they play a weaker team, the competitiveness drops and the pace moves slower.

“Our biggest area of improvement is to always play at a higher level of intensity,” he continued.

“We are going to work on maintaining consistent control of the ball, but that’s what every soccer team works on.”

Hahnville kicked their way to the regionals two years ago and finished third in their district behind Destrehan and Central Lafourche last year.

“I am hoping to at least make it through the quarterfinals, but to make the semi-finals and finals would be fantastic,” said Halloran.

Each team must schedule their first playoff match before Feb. 12.