By RYAN ARENA
L’Observateur

LAPLACE — St. Charles Catholic’s Albert Hane had already joined the rarified air occupied by 30-goal scorers before Friday’s first round Division III playoff matchup with Ouachita Christian.

Make that 32-goal scorers.

Hane put home two goals, and Andrew Rodrigue added another as the No. 9 seeded Comets took a 3-0 victory at home, advancing to the regional round where SCC will travel to No. 8 Westminster at 6 p.m. today.

“We know we have a rough one upcoming if we get them (Westminster),” Hane said before the result of Westminster’s first round game against St. Thomas Aquinas was known. “If we win that one, we’d have a quarterfinal match here, and that would be huge.”

Ouachita Christian, the No. 24 seed, played the match with a defensive mindset, keeping extra defenders in to keep the Comets (13-4-3) from finding many openings.

But Hane and Rodrigue each converted opportunities in the first half, then just over three minutes into the second half, Hane put things away with a close range score.

“They had a high defensive line,” Hane said. “We had some space to work with once we got behind them. We sent some through-balls and we got a couple of goals in the first half.”

St. Charles coach Sean LeBlanc said patience was the key.

“When you’re facing that kind of defense, it comes down to understanding you’re not in a rush,” he said. “It’s not about rush, rush, rush and take the first shot you can find. Control the ball and practice patience, and you’ll have your chances to finish.”

Hane has long been a top offensive weapon for St. Charles, but this season his game has truly blossomed, and he’s translated his strong regular season play into the playoffs.

“He’d better,” LeBlanc said with a laugh. “It’s one thing to do it in the regular season, but these games right now are what these guys have worked so hard for. He came up huge (Friday) and answered the bell.”

Hane largely credited his teammates for his goal-scoring count.

“They’ve been feeding me the ball,” Hane said. “My conversion rate’s up this season.

“A little luck has maybe been on my side there, but they’ve given me a lot of chances.”

Westminster defeated St. Thomas Aquinas 2-0 in the opening round.