T’bonne levee district inks LDWF agreement for J-2
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A day in a soldier’s life
February 25, 2010
With Friday’s state semifinal game between Vandebilt and Teurlings Catholic tied at zero heading to halftime, fans at Buddy Marcello Stadium in Houma were on the edges of their seats.
The position was uncharted territory for the Lady Terrier faithful, who have seen their team win two-straight state championships.
But with their season hanging in the balance, Vandebilt showed a champion’s resolve and dominated the second half en route to a 4-2 win, moving the team within one game of its third-straight state championship – a feat that has never been achieved in high school soccer.
“I told our girls at halftime that we really weren’t going to make adjustments, that we just needed to keep doing what we were doing,” said Vandebilt girls’ soccer coach Phil Amedee. “I told them that if we were able to get one, we would get a couple and we ended up doing that.”
Like she’s done most of the season, sophomore Meghan Philp sparked the Lady Terriers’ offense in the semifinals and recorded a goal and two assists.
Amedee said he knew the midfielder would step up her game with the stakes being elevated.
“She just gets out there and plays hard,” Amedee said. “The bigger the game, the bigger she plays.”
Also pitching in for Vandebilt on offense were Makelle Pena, Marcie St. Germain and Kimberly Grasso, who each added goals.
Amedee said this year’s playoff run is different than the previous two because of the youth of the players that have seen the field.
“At times tonight we were playing five freshmen,” the coach said. “That just kind of tells you the talent that we have and the work ethic that we have and how the girls have stepped up and matured as soccer players as the year has gone on.”
Philp said earlier in the season that while Vandebilt may be young, they are not lacking experience.
“We’ve all seen this before,” she said following the team’s postseason win against Belle Chasse. “It’s nothing new to us.”
With the win, the youthful Lady Terriers will move to the state finals where they will travel to play St. Louis in Lake Charles.
Amedee said the game will be played on Friday at McNeese State University. Amedee said the game could have also been played on Thursday, but he pushed for the later date to allow the team’s fans to make the nearly 200-mile trek.
St. Louis beat Vandebilt 2-1 in a tournament in December, but Amedee said he doesn’t necessarily believe that’s a bad thing for his team.
“That might be a little bulletin material for us,” he said. “They might have beaten us, but I think that’s an advantage to us.”
Freeman: ‘We put ourselves in the right position…’
The Vandebilt boys played the same school (Teurlings Catholic) in their semifinals match as the Lady Terriers did.
And thanks to late-match heroics by senior T.J. Freeman, the Terriers experienced the same feeling of jubilation as their female counterparts.
With the score tied at 1 in stoppage time in the second half, Freeman headed in a ball from a scrub in the penalty area as time expired, sending the Terriors to their first state championship game since 2008.
Following the match, Freeman deflected talk of being a hero and gave credit to his teammates for the victory.
“We put ourselves in the right position and it turned out well for us,” Freeman told the Opelousas Daily World following the match. “It’s just crazy that it happened that way.”
Freeman earlier in the season promised the Terriers would make it to the state finals and the Terriers’ all-time leading goal scorer delivered when the pressure was on.
“We’re too motivated to not be there,” Freeman said following the team’s second round matchup with Bossier. “We don’t want any of these games to be our last.”
But with the win, Freeman and the Terriers’ seniors know for sure their last games of their high school careers will be this week, when like the girls’ team, they play St. Louis in the state championship match.
The time and date of the match is yet to be announced, but it will be played on Vandebilt’s campus.
Things did not start auspiciously for Vandebilt on Saturday and the team fell into a 1-0 halftime hole.
Vandebilt fought back in the second half, however and tied the score with a header by Chris Watson.
The teams traded blows for the remainder of the game before Freeman took the drama to a new level, leaving everyone – even his own coach in awe.
“I just can’t believe that happened,” Vandebilt coach Matt Kelso told the Opelousas Daily World. “You dream of finishes like that.”
Vandebilt Catholic senior Jessica Clark makes a move in the team’s second round playoff win against Belle Chasse. The Lady Terriers are playing for their third-straight state championship on Friday. * File Photo / The Tri-Parish Times
