Blue Jays to Play a Semifinal Match on Saturday in the Wolves’ Den

Posted February 21, 2014 / Last updated March 10, 2014

Jesuit and St. Paul’s Match Gets Underway at 4 PM

For Jesuit to make it to the LHSAA state soccer finals for the sixth consecutive years, the Jays must eliminate St. Paul's. Nothing's easy with the Wolves.

For Jesuit to make it to the LHSAA state soccer finals for the sixth consecutive year, the Jays must eliminate St. Paul’s. Nothing’s easy with the Wolves.

In a highly anticipated state semifinal soccer match, Jesuit travels across the lake to Covington, where the Jays will be hunting Wolves in St. Paul’s own den. Kickoff is at 4 p.m. and a large capacity crowd is expected to watch two premiere teams go after each other – again, again, again, and again

This will be the fourth time in four years that Jesuit and St. Paul’s have crossed paths. For three straight years, the Jays and Wolves played in the championship match. Jesuit has won the last two times (in 2012 and 2013). In 2011, St. Paul’s won.

Saturday’s match is one of the first semifinal games that provides a backdrop for the two rivals to duke it out. Admission to the match is $7 for adults and $5 for students. School IDs are not valid at LHSAA playoff games.

The Jays (16-3) are coming off a 4-1 road victory over Sulphur in the quarterfinals while St. Paul’s remained at home to defeat Captain Shreve by the same score. The Blue Jays are seeded 6th in Division I while the Wolves are seeded 2nd. However, St. Paul’s essentially took over the top seed when former 1st seed Brother Martin was beaten by 8th seed Grace King. Acadiana travels to Joe Yenni Stadium Saturday afternoon to take on the Irish in the other semifinal match.

The two teams that survive the semifinals will play each other on Friday, Feb. 28 at Tad Gormley Stadium.

Jesuit’s head soccer coach is Hubie Collins, who is in his 12th year overseeing the varsity program. He is assisted by Dave Storm and “Daz” Towers. Under Coach Collins, the Jays have won seven state championships in the past 11 years (2013, 2012, 2010, 2009, 2007, 2005, and 2003). They were state runners-up twice (2011 and 2004) and made it to the semifinals once (2006). The only “off” year for the Jays was a district championship in 2008.

View the Photo Gallery of the Jesuit – Sulphur Match

Sulphur Daily News: Jesuit Ends Tors’ Season in Quarterfinals

View the LHSAA Division 1 Soccer Brackets

Galleries

Soccer vs. Sulphur, Quarterfinals, Feb. 18, 2014

Will McQueen makes the ball do what he wants, frustrating his defender...
This is how the Jays begin each half, first with a prayer, and then solidarity.
Cameron Coulon keeps the ball to himself, avoiding the Tor defensive player coming up fast.
Senior Cameron Coulon fights off a couple of Tor defenders to punch this shot into the goal four minutes into the second half. Coulon's goal puts the Jays up 3-1 and gives Nick Tadros some breathing room.
After Cameron Coulon scores, he turns to join his teammates, leaving the Tors to pick themselves up.
Jacob Stansberry fights to control the ball.
The Tors are not done yet. On a corner kick, The Jays' defense is in place, but one of the Sulphur players needs to move Gabe Navar out of the way. Fortunately, Jacob Stansberry (left) clears the ball.
Gabe Navar shows these Tors that he, too, can get physical.
Jacob Stansberry comes close to scoring on a header, but the goalie makes a save.
Gabe Navar catches the ball with his chest and starts towards the goal. The ref blows the whistle for a third time on the Tors for interfering.
Gabe Navar takes the penalty kick and drills it into the right corner for his second goal of the match. The Jays are up, 4-1, but 20 minutes still remain in the match.
The Jays emerge from the visitors' locker and gather around goalie Nick Tadros, who calmly tells his teammates there is 40 minutes of soccer left and every player on the field needs to take care of business.
The Tor defender goes for the ball but misses, instead grabbing McQueen's jersey. No harm done.
Sulphur is deflated but they're not giving in. A corner kick is moved out of the way by Mitch Bourgeois and Evan DeHoog.
Luke Hahn hypnotizes the ball away from a Tor.
Chase Rushing does not yield to pressure and reaches the ball ahead of his opponents.
A corner kick for the Jays bounces off Will McQueen and two Tors.
Coach Hubie Collins, usually stoic as ever, reacts to the silence of the ref's whistle in the waning seconds of the match.
Some of the parents of the players whoop it up at the end of the hard-fought match.
The two teams meet on the field after the match.
Parents and a few grandparents of Blue Jay players chartered a bus to Sulphur to watch the action. A pit stop for lunch was made at Landry's Restaurant outside Lafayette. Sort of like a magical mystery tour where a marquee, amazingly, revealed the score of the game - not to the parents, but only to the wild photographer.
Charles Graham jumps high for a header and keeps the ball in play.
The match started right at 5 p.m. Chase Rushing has one of the first headers at mid-field.
Patrick LaCour makes a fast break as Evan Kramer surveys positions of his teammates.
The match is eight minutes old when disaster strikes the Jays. One of the Tors' strikers catches Jesuit's defensive backs by surprise and flies by. From the right side, he takes a shot that is angled perfectly towards the far corner of the goal. Jesuit goalie Nick Tadros makes a desperate lunge for the ball and can only watch as it goes in. The goal may be one of the earliest an opponent scored on the Jays this season.
The goal by Sulphur has a way of igniting the Jesuit players, who already play with intensity. Cameron Coulon goes up for a header surrounded by a trio of Tors.
Chase Rushing has an opportunity to head the ball directly in front of the Tors' goal.
The Tors play physical soccer as the Jays quickly realized. But there is a price to pay whenever the line is crossed, no matter which team. Here, Cameron Coulon is knocked to the turf inches outside of the box.
Evan Kramer (upper right corner) takes the penalty kick for the Jays, dunking it into the far corner of the goal. Score tied 1-1 20 minutes into this quarterfinal match.
Cullen Walsh kicks to a teammate. The field the match was played on was "short," the width being narrower than regulation soccer fields.
Evan Kramer is determined to reach the ball first while shaking off a defender.
Following the invocation, the National Anthem, and announcement of the starting lineups, the Jays and the Tors show each other respect while the officials wish each team well.
The Tors are a little too close to the Jesuit goal so Will McQueen (14) jumps in the fray to clear the ball.
The Jays are called for interference and the Tor who scored early in the game takes the shot. Nick Tadros is ready in the goal. The defensive wall of Jays that stops the ball are, from left, Mitch Bourgeois, Cameron Coulon, Charles Graham, Chase Rushing, Evan Kramer, and Will McQueen.
Second later, the ball is still hanging dangerously in front of the Jesuit goal. But the Tor player can't make the shot and Nick Tadros quickly pounces on the ball, covering it up, and snuffing out the threat.
Sulphur has a corner kick that is punched away by goalie Nick Tadros.
Will McQueen breaks toward the Sulphur goal escorted by two Tors who roll the dice. The ref blows the whistle on the Tors for interfering with McQueen inside the box.
Gabe Navar takes the penalty kick and smacks the ball into the left corner of the goal. The Jays have a 2-1 lead in the 37th minute.
Navar's goal gets the Blue Jay bench on their feet.
The Tors fight back and bring the ball down to the Jesuit goal where Nick Tadros makes another great save, taking an elbow in the process.
A corner kick by the Tors is almost carried into the goal by the wind, but Nick Tadros again makes a great save, slapping the ball over the goal. Moments later, the first half ends.