Vandebilt soccer searching for turnaround

The Vandebilt Catholic boys’ soccer team has one goal every season n win the state championship.

With a youthful roster, merely winning individual matches has been a challenge this year for the Terriers.

Struggling through inexperience and expectations, Vandebilt was hard at work on the practice fields this week, searching to find its peak with the playoffs looming and opponents hungry to send the Terriers to an early postseason exit.

“Every year here, we shot for a state championship,” senior James Daigle said. “So to be halfway through the season … more than halfway through the season, actually and to be having just a .500 winning percentage, that’s not something that we’re proud of. That’s actually not something that we’re proud of at all.”

“It’s obviously not gone the way that we expect,” Vandebilt Catholic coach Matt Kelso added. “We’re going to continue to work hard each and every day we come out here. And we still have our goals in front of us. We still have our goals in sight. The season is in no way, shape, nor form over. Everything is out there for us yet.”

The Terriers’ coach mentions goals n off the field Vandebilt has several.

On it, they just can’t put the ball into the net to score one of their own.

The biggest root of Vandebilt’s problems this season have come on the offensive side of the pitch.

The Terriers have averaged just less than two goals per game this season.

Even those miniscule numbers are a bit skewed. Take away the team’s eight and six goal outputs in two meetings with struggling Ellender and the Terriers average right at one goal per game.

Vandebilt has been shut out in seven of their nine losses on the year.

In some games, Kelso and players say they never had many scoring opportunities.

“We’re just trying to find the right players and the right fit,” Austin Zeringue said. “We’ve been moving around in the formation throughout the whole team, just trying to put different people in the right places. Ultimately, it’s about practicing more and practicing better so that when game time comes, we’re ready to make plays and put the ball in the net.”

Kelso took his player’s statement a step further and said Vandebilt has struggled with offensive fundamentals.

The coach said he has had to simplify the team’s practices to keep his players polished in the basics of the sport.

“It comes down to everything, including the basic fundamentals,” Kelso said. “Tactically, we’re there. We know what we want. The boys understand what we want and where to go. But it’s just been the fundamentals that’s been letting us down a little bit lately.

“I think it’s just the ability to handle pressure and pressure situations.”

But even with the tough start and the team’s 9-9-2 record, no one is overly alarmed within the Terriers’ camp.

The first reason for that is youth.

Kelso said he has a mixed bag of seniors and underclassmen this year. Because of that, the team lacks the number of experienced bodies it had during its most recent state championship runs.

“We’re laden with younger kids,” Kelso said. “We have a ninth-grader out there and we’re laden with 10th- graders out there, too. But we do have eight seniors, so we have a good mixture. But we have a lot of youth and a lot of inexperience. … We have the quality we’ve had in recent years. We just don’t quite have the same depth.”

Daigle agreed and said he and his teammates do the best they can to steer the team’s youth in the right direction.

“That’s up to us,” Daigle said. “I remember what it was like to be a freshman. They follow the older guys. If we give them a solid example to follow, they will do the right things.”

The second reason for the team’s growing pains has been its schedule.

Vandebilt doesn’t shy away from anyone and plays arguably the toughest schedule in Louisiana.

The Terriers faced powerhouses like Brother Martin, Jesuit, St. Pauls and Catholic of Baton Rouge in their pre-district schedule.

Inside of district, fellow power E.D. White has emerged as the team to beat.

No matter how it’s sliced, Vandebilt has faced some of the best Louisiana has to offer.

“I’ll put our early season strength of schedule up against anybodies,” Kelso said. “I don’t know that there’s anyone’s who’s been tougher in the state of Louisiana. And that’s there for a reason. That’s to get us prepared for where we’re going down the road.”

Where the Terriers are going are the playoffs n where they usually shine the brightest.

Vandebilt has finished as the state runner’s up in Division II each of the past two seasons.

Will they get over the hump this year and make the third time the charm?

It surely seems unlikely with the team’s record and recent play.

But it’s awfully hard to bet against Vandebilt when postseason comes around.

“We are one of those teams that usually steps up and is still around at the end of February,” Kelso said. “We’ve got to step up and work that little bit extra this year. But it’s within our reach. We can do it.”

“We were sort of in the same spot last year and we found a way to get it done and we made it all of the way to the state finals,” Daigle added. “This year is no different. We have plenty time to peak and to come together as a team to make another playoff push.”

Vandebilt Catholic boys’ soccer coach Matt Kelso gives instructions to his team during practice. With a youthful roster, Vandebilt has struggled to score goals this season – a slump that has the usually dominant Terriers in a mid-season funk. CASEY GISCLAIR