By RYAN ARENA
L’Observateur

RESERVE — Make it two wins in a row for East St. John’s girls soccer team, which overcame the absence of its top offensive threat to move to 2-0 in District 8-I play Tuesday, besting Higgins, 3-0.

Tyrionne Deary, Toni Monroe and Ariel Scioneaux each scored for the Wildcats, the latter two scoring their goals in the second half after ESJ took a 1-0 lead into the break.

A number of East St. John players had to fight through a flu bug, said ESJ coach Joe Perrilloux; perennial top scorer Nyanza Bell was sidelined by the illness.

“We didn’t have Nyanza … she couldn’t go, as sick as she was,” said Perrilloux. “But the girls went out and just played. We couldn’t win a game without her earlier this season, but people stepped up.

“I think the win to start district over John Ehret really helped them, especially the younger players. They played with more confidence.”

After losing nine straight matches to begin the season, East St. John is 2-0 in district.

It was scheduled to face Destrehan on Friday, after press time.

Perrilloux said that he was happy with how his defense performed and how the Ladycats controlled the ball.

But, he warned, for his team to continue its success, it must finish better going forward.

“We missed so many shots. We can’t do that against Destrehan,” said Perrilloux. “That’s what we’re going to do in practice. We’ll work on finishing … if we do that, we’ll be tough to beat.”

The loss dropped Higgins to 4-6 on the season and 0-2 in district play.