E.D. White captures district crown, but Comets build momentum

Published 12:00 am Wednesday, February 4, 2009

By RYAN ARENA

Sports Editor

In its final match of the regular season, St. Charles suffered its 13th loss, and also a shot at a share of the District 7-III championship.

But ironically, the match may have also been just the medicine the team needs entering the postseason.

The Comets indeed fell to E.D. White 3-1 on Thursday in Thibodaux, as the Cardinals (14-2-3, 6-0) clinched the district crown.

But SCC coach Rick Woodroof is optimistic in light of a performance by his team that was much improved from its 6-0 loss to the Cardinals on Jan. 20.

“We did a really good job controlling things in the second half,” Woodroof said. “We played really well defensively, with the exception of a couple of mistakes. And we generated a lot of opportunities for ourselves.

“At the end, we may have been more pleased than they were about the game.”

Jeffery Hall scored the lone goal for St. Charles (5-13, 4-2).

Each team was scheduled to learn its seeding on Tuesday morning.

Woodroof said that the team’s play in the match should be a confidence builder entering the postseason.

“It shows me that we have a chance,” Woodroof said. “I told them, ‘If you guys play like that, and we just clean up some mistakes…’. E.D. White is ranked seventh or eighth in the state. If we continue to play like this, we have a shot.”

Woodroof said that the Comets’ improved play in the second half was aided by a halftime adjustment.

“We began by trying to work it through the middle, but we weren’t handling that well,” he said. “We played a more direct game, sending it out to the wings, and it created a lot of opportunities. We had between 10 and 12 shots in the second half, compared to maybe two in the first half. It was a complete reversal.”