By RYAN ARENA

L’Observateur

LAPLACE — After struggling to find any offense in the season’s first eight matches, St. Charles suddenly found a surge on Tuesday as it defeated Pearl River for its second straight win, 4-3, at St. Charles.

Jonathan Perret, Chris Montalbano, Paul Cupit and Daniel Ballard each scored goals in the game to lift the Comets to victory.

“We’re starting to get healthier,” said St. Charles coach Bill Ballard. “We got some guys back, and it allowed us to strengthen our attack up front, to add a little more power and ability to score.”

St. Charles (2-7-1) led 3-0 in the first half and added a quick goal early in the second half, but the Rebels made nothing easy in the end – a fierce comeback saw Pearl River score three goals within the first 25 minutes of the second half.

“They got two quick ones on us, and I think it made our defenders and midfielders tentative. Nobody wanted to make the big mistake,” said Ballard. “But once they cut it to one, I felt like we were back to our old selves. They played with a sense of urgency to win the game.”

As it has all season, the Comet defense was called upon to come through. And just as it did four days earlier at East St. John, the Comets held on to a one-goal lead for the final 10-plus minutes to clinch the win.

Ballard said that allowing the three goals showed a bit on a chink in his team’s armor, but chalks it up to inexperience.

“It’s something we’re already working on in practice – how to hold leads,” said Ballard. “I think there was a little overconfidence in the second half.”

He also said that his team’s increased willingness to follow shots was a boost to its output on Tuesday.

“I told them that when we take shots, we’ve gotta all be in that box,” said Ballard.

“And when we attempted shots, they were all hustling in. It helped us.”