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February 25, 2016The Vandebilt girls’ soccer team is one win away from another state championship.
The team has timely offense and dominant defense to thank for that.
The No. 1 seeded Lady Terriers stormed into the finals of the Division III Playoffs on Friday night, scoring a 2-0 victory over Loyola Prep in a semifinal match played at Buddy Marcello Stadium in Houma.
Junior Hannah Cuneo scored both goals for Vandebilt, which improved to 27-3-3 in victory.
The Lady Terriers will now move on to the Division III State Championship Game against No. 2 Sacred Heart – a game which will be played on Thursday night at 5 p.m. at Tad Gormley Stadium in New Orleans.
Vandebilt coach Philip Amedee said his team is eager to compete for the state’s biggest prize. He added that the Lady Terriers have been playing some of their best soccer of the season in the playoffs.
“We’ve played some really good soccer, and it’s allowed us the opportunity to be where we are right now,” Amedee said. “It’s not going to be easy. Sacred Heart is a really good team. But we’re going to prepare, get ourselves ready and take the field and give it our absolute best shot.”
The Lady Terriers’ ‘best shot’ was easily enough to make it past Loyola in the semis.
Vandebilt dominated Friday’s match from start-to-finish, outshooting its opponent by more than a three-to-one ratio throughout the match.
The scoring came early, as Cuneo snuck one past Loyola goalie Mary Katherine Smith just three minutes into the match – a score set up by a corner kick.
The dominant striker struck again just before halftime, hammering home a Megan Blanchard pass into the net.
Amedee said getting early goals is the calling card of his team because it forces opponents to play to the Lady Terriers strengths.
“We love to get ahead, because then we can dictate the pace and how the match is going to be played,” Amedee said. “When we got on top early, that was very big for us. It got us settled in.”
In the second half, Vandebilt stayed on the attack, dominating possession and keeping the ball away from Loyola to seal the win – the 13th-straight shutout for the Lady Terriers.
Amedee said the reason Vandebilt has been able to keep opponents out of the net for so long is two-fold. First, he credits the obvious: a dominant defense, led by keeper Emma Guidry. But the coach also said his team’s offense is vital, as well, because the Lady Terriers are so proficient at keeping the ball off of the opponent’s feet.
“They say the best defense is a good offense,” Amedee said. “We’re pretty good at that.”
But to win the last match won’t be easy.
Sacred Heart enters play with a 16-4-3 record, which includes a 3-1 victory over E.D. White in the semifinals.
Another feather in Sacred Heart’s cap is history. They beat Vandebilt 1-0 on Nov. 24 in an early-season, non-district battle of state powers.
EDW STORMS INTO FINALS
The Vandebilt Catholic boys’ soccer team will not repeat as state champions.
They have their biggest rival to thank for that.
No. 3 E.D. White shocked the No. 2 Terriers on their own field in the Division III State Semifinals on Saturday night, using a second-half penalty kick to trump Vandebilt, 1-0.
The Cardinals victory was a mild upset to most, considering that the team was 0-2-1 against the Terriers in the regular season with the two losses coming by a combined 7-0 margin.
But in Saturday’s match, it was the E.D. White defense that dictated the pace and punched a place in the State Finals.
The Cardinals will face No. 1 St. Louis for the title – a match that will be played at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday at Tad Gormley Stadium.
Again, E.D. White will be the underdogs on paper. But Cardinals coach Roger Bimah said his team wouldn’t want it any other way.
“Our guys have so much heart,” Bimah said. “We battle and compete and give it everything we have in every, single match. Tonight, we were great defensively. … I’m so proud of the kids and I’m so happy to be able to coach them another game.”
Defense was the story of Saturday’s match. E.D. White kept the Terriers stymied – unable to penetrate the net throughout the match, despite multiple opportunities.
E.D. White got its best push in the 74th minute when Vandebilt committed a handball in the box – an automatic penalty kick.
From there, Collin Toups did the rest, slamming the ball into the net to give the Cardinals a 1-0 lead.
Down by a goal and with time melting away, Vandebilt furiously battled back, slamming multiple shots at the E.D. White defense. But the Cardinals never faltered, clearing each opportunity away until time expired. •
