by RYAN ARENA

Sports Editor

As St. Charles approaches district play, it’s undergoing a trial by fire in its schedule.

After a tournament performance at St. Paul’s over the weekend that saw St. Charles go 1-2 against a slate of opponents including Dutchtown, Brother Martin and Fontainebleau, the Comets fell at Newman on Wednesday, 3-2.

Peter Lambert-Oswald scored both St. Charles goals in the game.

David Martin, Guy Scoggin and Jeffery Hampton each scored for Newman.

Newman jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first half, leading St. Charles Coach David Woodroof to challenge his team.

“We had three days off, and we really came out flat,” said Woodroof. “We put no pressure on the ball, and really made it easy on them to shoot.”

But as off as the Comets seemed to be in the first half, they were certainly on in the second. St. Charles (9-8) kept possession of the ball for much of the half, and Lambert-Oswald was able to cash in twice to give his team a chance.

“He’s our hottest player right now,” Woodroof said. “He’s one of the best I’ve ever seen, just a natural.”

Newman was able to hold on, though, after scoring a final goal in the second half.

Woodroof said he wasn’t sure if his team came out flat due to the layoff, but he said that all things considered, it was worth it.

“We really needed time to heal,” said Woodroof. “We’ve had some guys banged up. I felt like we needed it.”

Last Thursday, St. Charles opened up play in the St. Paul’s tournament with a 2-0 loss to Brother Martin, followed by a 2-0 loss to Fontainebleau later that day.

But last Friday, the Comets rebounded to defeat a tough Dutchtown squad, 1-0. Lambert-Oswald scored the game’s lone goal.

“We struggled at times even against Dutchtown,” said Woodroof. “We were missing a number of guys. But it took a tremendous defensive effort to even stay in those games.”