By RYAN ARENA
L’Observateur

LAPLACE — It wasn’t going to take much for the Riverside boys soccer team to improve upon its winless season a year ago.
But the Rebels have made quite a leap, if early season results are any indication. Riverside moved to 3-2 this week, splitting a pair of matches after taking a 3-0 win over Catholic Pointe-Coupee Monday and falling 5-0 to Holy Cross Tuesday.
Tyler Gauthier scored all three goals Monday to bring his total to a whopping 12 this season, helping the Rebels win what second-year RA coach Paul Shenton called a “very physical” contest.
“We played very well,” said Shenton. “We’ve got a lot of football guys and sometimes, guys tend to let the physical play get to them and, well, start playing football. But we kept our heads.”
Gauthier joined the Rebels midway through last season and entered this year’s campaign as the team’s featured striker. The results have been to the Rebels’ liking so far.
“I’ve tried to put our team in a formation that gives him opportunities to score. He’s a very natural goal-scorer,” said Shenton. “He scored three the other night, then five in the win over Houma Christian.”
Against Holy Cross, Riverside stayed close and trailed just 1-0 at halftime before fading in the second half.
“They’re the superior team, but I thought we gave a good accounting of ourselves,” said Shenton. “We just wore out in the second half.”
Shenton said that before last season, he was honest with his team, noting that with such inexperience up and down the roster, wins would not be bountiful.
But this season, he had a different message for his players.
“We’ve got some new additions. Our returning guys are 12 months more experienced,” said Shenton. “I told them that that if we can be disciplined, if we can practice well, then they’ve got an opportunity to create a tipping point for this program.’
“We’ve got a tough district. The playoffs are no guarantee. But this could be the start of something. The girls program has done well in the past, but not so much the boys. With the right effort, you might make this season the start of something.”