By RYAN ARENA

L’Observateur

RESERVE – The East St. John girls soccer team broke through on Wednesday.

The Wildcats nailed down their first win of the season – and in fact, three years – when it downed Ponchatoula, 3-2.

“I’ve been waiting for this all year long,” said East St. John assistant coach Joseph Perrilloux, who played on the boys team before graduating this past summer. “They played as a team and they all wanted this more than anything. They’ve really put the work in all season and we just needed to break through.”

Nyanza Bell scored two goals to lead ESJ. Brittane Harding added another. Harding also had an assist; Toni Monroe notched a pair of them.

Bell hit the game-winner in the late stages of the second half after Ponchatoula rallied to tie things up after falling behind ESJ 2-0.

“You can see them getting better and better every week,” said Perrilloux. “I’m really proud of them. We’re so young, and we’ll have a lot of them for the next two, three, four years. They’re really growing up, now.”

Harding, a team captain and a junior, said that the team hung together even when Pontchatoula made a push at them.

“I think we can play even better. But all of the girls worked hard, and we felt happy to get it done,” she said. “We just stayed focused and came out with a good win.

“We’ve got talent on this team, but everyone is new. We’re just learning to play together.”

ESJ will try to make it two in a row Tuesday when it faces St. Charles at 6 p.m. Tuesday.