By RYAN ARENA

L’Observateur

St. Charles is still searching for its first victory this season, in no small part because of a brutal schedule.

This past weekend’s Pearl River tournament was a prime example. The Comets fell 1-0 to Shaw on Thursday; and 2-1 to Country Day and 4-0 to Ben Franklin on Saturday.

It dropped SCC to 0-6-1.

First year SCC head coach Bill Ballard is proud of his team’s effort, particularly on defense, and says that a turnaround might simply be a matter of finding some scoring punch.

“We’ve been playing some good teams tough,” he said. “The kids are hurting. It’s been tough on a young team. We’ve got a quality team I believe, we just need to find an offensive threat.”

The Comets were tied 0-0 with Shaw at halftime before the Eagles scored in the second half to notch the win.

“It was a defensive lapse, and they popped one in,” said Ballard.

Against Country Day, the Comets led 1-0 at halftime on the strength of Jonathan Perret’s goal. The Cajuns scored twice in the second half to break out for the win.

“We’re relying on our defense so much right now,” said Ballard. “But they’re playing hard in all aspects. You can see improvement as we go.”

Ben Franklin led 1-0 at halftime on Saturday, then extended their lead to 2-0 on a penalty kick on one of three second half goals.

SCC boasts just four seniors this season – Brett Landry, Daniel Ballard, David Suarez and Paul Cupit — and none have been present through all seven games due to injury or commitments to other sports.

But coach Ballard says that no matter what the team’s current record is, the team’s ultimate goals are still in reach.

“As I’ve told them, it’s a season divided into three parts,” he said. “The first 15 games or so are preseason. Then you have district, and then the playoffs. These losses are tough, but they’re coming to good teams. We’re getting better from these games.”