By RYAN ARENA

Sports Editor

The tears on the faces of the St. Charles players told the whole story, one of a breakthrough season that ended all too early.

The Comets, the No. 11 seed in Division III, drew district foe E.D. White in the first round after beating the Cardinals twice in the regular season.

But St. Charles came up short of turning back their rivals for a third time, falling 2-1 on Friday night in a bi-district playoff game in LaPlace.

“The odds against you always get worse when you try to beat a team for a third time,” said SCC coach Don Peyton. “You just hate to see it end so soon for the girls.”

E.D. White’s Lindsay Constant scored two goals to lift her team to the win.

The No. 22 seeded Cardinals will host No. 6 McGehee in the second round.

E.D. White (5-11-1) was determined to not let St. Charles (14-4-4) leading scorer Reyna Lubin beat them, and held the standout without a goal until the final two minutes of the match.

“We changed up our defense to keep two on Reyna. She’s a great player,” said E.D. White Coach Don Grabert. “We knew we couldn’t let her take shot after shot like in the past.

“This is a great win for us. These two teams have built a really good rivalry.”

After a near miss by each team, the Comets appeared to take a 1-0 lead when Lubin faked out her defender and popped in a 15-footer with 24:12 left in the first half. But the goal was waved off for pushing, and the score remained tied at 0.

“It was a very late call,” said Peyton. “The girls were already getting back to midfield, and they wave it off.”

Lubin got two more shots in the next five minutes, but couldn’t

convert.

“We pressed all game. We just couldn’t score,” said Peyton.

The match was tied 0-0 at halftime.

The Cardinals struck first with 29:20 left in the second half, scoring off of a free kick from just inside midfield. A high kick fell just in front of Constant in the box, and she slipped a shot past Comet goalkeeper Kristen Carrier to put the Cardinals ahead 1-0.

“Once they got the lead, it allowed them to pack in their defense,” said Peyton.

That lead grew to 2-0 with 13:16 left, when Constant leaked out ahead of the defense and nailed a one-on-one shot.

“They got out on two runs all game,” said Peyton with a wry smile. “And they score both times.”

SCC finally broke through with two minutes left, as Lubin converted a short shot to make it 2-1.

The Comets had one last chance after a penalty was called on E.D White from about 30 feet away from goal, giving SCC a free kick with less than 30 seconds remaining. Cassie Drexel put it in play, but no teammate could muster a shot right before the final whistle.

Grabert said the win was a sign that his team was developing some cohesion among a group of mostly new starters this season. He also said he sympathized with Peyton about the postseason draw pitting district foes against one another.

“It helped us to know our opponent so well. (Peyton) and I even talked about it before the game. I don’t think it’s right to put district opponents against each other in the first round in the playoffs.”

Said Peyton: “It’s a life lesson for these girls. They’ll be, many challenges ahead of them. This won’t be the worst thing that happens in life.

“I do think that seeing the faces of our seniors, the underclassman know what it means to be a senior tonight.”