The H.L. Bourgeois Braves used a pair of goals early to set the pace and pick up a 4-2 over the East St. John Wildcats in Tuesday night's Disgrict 5-I match at Tom. B. Smith Stadium.
It was a much needed boost for Braves coach Travis Dupre, who now finds his team sitting at 9-7-3 overall and 1-1 in district.
“Once you get into district play all these games matter,” Dupre said. "This is a win that we needed to have. East St. John did a really good job tonight overall. I thought we played a little sloppy in the first half but picked it up in the second half and that was something positive to see. We should have finished on a coupe of those shots in the second half but overall the second half was much better for us.”
The Braves outshot the Wildcats 19-3 shots on goal but were unable to capitalize on several scoring opportunities, fending off a brief Wildcat rally in the second half to secure the win.
H.L. Bourgeois wasted little time netting the first goal as Sean Dugas pelted on in at the 10-minute mark for an early 1-0 lead.
The Braves had other multiple scoring opportunities in the first half, but East St. John held tough until a 38th minute goal by the Allen Bonvillain pushed the lead to 2-0 going into the break.
After the intermission, H.L. Bourgeois scored again, as Bonvillain’s penalty kick went just over the outstretched hands of the Wildcat goalie and into the net for a 3-0 lead.
The Wildcats finally got on the board 14 minutes later, as Lizardo Mondragon broke through the Braves defense to knock one just out of reach of H.L. Bourgeois goalie Conner Kimball to cut the Braves lead to 3-1 in the 58th minute.
But the Braves responded just two minutes later, as Christian Pineda scored his first goal of the night to push the Braves lead to three once again, 4-1.
The Braves spent the majority of the half keeping the ball in play on the Wildcat side of the field, something Dupre said was pivotal in the second half.
“All in all I am happy with the way we controlled the game,” Dupre said. “We had a couple breakdowns, but for the most part we controlled the ball. I was pleased to see that.”
East St. John added their second goal in the closing minutes, when Alex Rayes broke containment won the one-on-one with Kimball, to cut the Wildcat deficit to 4-2 and account for the final score.
Kimball recorded two saves in goal for the Braves.
H.L. BOURGEOIS 4, EAST ST. JOHN 1 (GIRLS)
Three first half goals set the pace for the Lady Braves as they secured their first district win of the season, 4-1.
Madison Robichaux (fifth minute), Erin Matherne (12th minute) and Laresah Gros (21st minute) set the tone early for H.L. Bourgeois to give their team the 3-0 lead at intermission.
East St. John cut the deficit to 3-1 after a Jae’Lasha Julien goal but Robichaux added another of her own in the second half to secure the 4-1 win.
“We took our chances early, and it’s a good thing we did because we played poorly in the second half,” H.L. Bourgeois coach Jacob Champagne said. “We knew East St. John was an athletic team coming in. I was disappointed in the second half, I thought we could emphasize what we are doing but it’s a big district win for us and something to build on.”
TUESDAY’S GIRLS SOCCER CAPSULES
ST. AMANT 4, THIBODAUX 1 (at Thibodaux, District 5-I match)
Statistical leaders: Thibodaux – Maegan Terrell (goal), Alden Southall (17 saves in goal)
Records: St. Amant (9-2-2 overall, 2-0-0 in district); Thibodaux (13-1-2 overall, 1-1-0 in district)
DESTREHAN 9, TERREBONNE 1 (at Destrehan, District 5-II match)
Statistical leaders: Terrebonne – Alyiah Van Buren (goal), Baylie Bergeron (assist), Carlie Clement and Cailin Bernard (split time in goal and combined for 11 saves)
Records: Destrehan (8-6-0 overall, 4-1-0 in district); Terrebonne (15-5-2 overall, 3-2-0 in district)
SOUTH TERREBONNE 8, ELLENDER 0 (at Bourg, District 5-II match)
Statistical leaders: South Terrebonne – Mikenzi Authement (two goals), Savannah Anderson (two goals), Laci Hidalgo (goal), Wesleigh Chauvin (goal), Neelie Smith (goal), Abbie Thibodaux and Mikenzi Authement (split time in goal)
Records: South Terrebonne (6-7-0 overall, 2-3-0 in district); Ellender (0-8-0 overall, 0-4-0 in district)
CENTRAL LAFOURCHE 8, SOUTH LAFOURCHE 0 (at Galliano, District 5-II match)
Statistical leaders: Central Lafourche – Claire Hodson (two goals), Piper Smith (two goals, two assists), McKenzie Champagne (two goals), Lacie Lemoine (goal), Sarah Hodson (goal), Gabbi Hodson (assist), Lana Dufrene (assist)
Records: Central Lafourche (15-3-0 overall, 4-0-0 in district); South Lafourche (3-10-0 overall, 1-4-0 in district)
VANDEBILT CATHOLIC 7, LUTCHER 1 (at Houma, District 5-III match)
Statistical leaders: Vandebilt – Molly Thompson (three goals), Riley Neal (two goals), Kat Prentice (goal), Lauren Andre (goal), Camryn Beebe (win in goal)
Records: Vandebilt (17-4-2 overall, 2-0-0 in district); Lutcher (4-11-3 overall, 0-1-1 in district)
E.D. WHITE CATHOLIC 8, MORGAN CITY 0 (at Thibodaux, District 5-III match)
Halftime: EDW led 4-0.
Statistical leaders: EDW – Madison Konur (three goals), Ann-Marie Schwaner (two goals), Malorie Matherne (goal), Madison Daigle (goal), Taylor Marcombe (goal)
Records: EDW (8-7-4 overall, 1-0-1 in district); Morgan City (5-10-2 overall, 0-2-1 in district)
HOUMA CHRISTIAN SCHOOL 4, COVENANT CHRISTIAN ACADEMY 0 (at Schreiver, District 6-IV match)
Halftime score: Houma Christian led 3-0.
Statistical leaders: CCA – Emily Allemand (30 saves in goal)
Records: Houma Christian (6-1-6 overall, 1-0-0 in district); CCA (3-9-0 overall, 0-1-0 in district)
TUESDAY’S BOYS SOCCER CAPSULES
ST. AMANT 2, THIBODAUX 0 (at Thibodaux, District 5-I match)
Statistical leaders: Thibodaux – Kobe Hilliard (15 saves in goal)
Records: St. Amant (18-1-1 overall, 2-0-0 in district); Thibodaux (5-3-2 overall, 1-1-0 in district)
TERREBONNE 2, DESTREHAN 0 (at Destrehan, District 5-II match)
Statistical leaders: Terrebonne – Cameron Dowden (two goals)
Records: Terrebonne (13-1-7 overall, 4-0-0 in district); Destrehan (5-4-2 overall, 4-1-0 in district)
ELLENDER 1, SOUTH TERREBONNE 0 (at Bourg, District 5-II match)
Statistical leaders: Ellender – Austin Breaux (goal), Tate Ford (seven saves)
Records: Ellender (3-9-0 overall, 1-4-0 in district); South Terrebonne (3-8-2 overall, 2-3-0 in district)
CENTRAL LAFOURCHE 8, SOUTH LAFOURCHE 0 (at Galliano, District 5-II match)
Statistical leaders: Central Lafourche – Trey Naquin (three goals), Ty Grabert (three goals), Cody Dies (goal), Clay Moss (goal)
Records: Central Lafourche (6-10-4 overall, 2-2-0 in district); South Lafourche (1-9-1 overall, 1-4-1 in district)
VANDEBILT CATHOLIC 7, LUTCHER 1 (at Houma, District 5-III match)
Statistical leaders: Vandebilt – James Leaber (two goals), Brian Gramajo (goal), Michael Folse (goal), Chandler Rhodes (goal), Max Doyle (goal), Austin Breaux (goal)
Records: Vandebilt (8-5-4 overall, 4-0-0 in district); Lutcher (5-7-3 overall, 0-2-1 in district)
E.D. WHITE CATHOLIC 8, MORGAN CITY 0 (at Thibodaux, District 5-III match)
Statistical leaders: EDW – Ayden Duvernay (three goals), Grant DeGravelle (two goals), Jordan Servat (goal), Matt Gros (goal), Matt Badeaux (goal), Cade Duplantis (clean-sheet victory in goal)
Records: EDW (10-4-3 overall, 3-0-0 in district); Morgan City (3-9-3 overall, 0-3-1 in district)
COVENANT CHRISTIAN ACADEMY 2, RIVERSIDE ACADEMY 1 (at Reserve, District 6-IV)
Records: CCA (5-3-3 overall, 1-0-0 in district); Riverside (1-9-1 overall, 0-1-0 in district)
--Compiled by sports writer Kelly McElroy.