By RYAN ARENA

L’Observateur

LAPLACE – East St. John made a second half push at securing their second straight victory, but St. Charles’ Laura Hane scored in the 70th minute of the game to provide the eventual winning score in a 4-3 St. Charles victory.

“We’ve been saying that sooner or later, our girls would come together,” said St. Charles coach Don Peyton. “We’ve got freshman, sophomores and juniors up front, and the last couple of games, they’ve been making the passes, the chemistry is building.

“I feel like this was our first complete game of the season. It might have taken an in-parish rivalry game like this … everyone wanted to win it.”

Hane and East St. John’s Nyanza Bell each scored three goals in the game.

St. Charles wasted little time taking the lead when Jalynn Johnson scored in the third minute of play to put SCC ahead 1-0. The lead grew to 2-0 on Hane’s first goal of the night, coming in the 29th minute.

Bell answered right before halftime to make it 2-1, but four minutes into the second half Hane scored to push the lead to two again.

In the 68th minute of play, Bell scored to make it 3-2. Hane responded just two minutes later to make it 4-2. Bell fired back in minute 73, but St. Charles held on for the last seven minutes for the win.

“(Bell) has a leg. She kicks it harder than most boys,” said Peyton. “I think they wore down a little bit late in the game. And I think we’re starting to gel.”

East St. John assistant coach Joseph Perrilloux said his team played well in the second half after falling behind, but that a little more discipline would have gone a long way.

“I thought we had them on their heels in the second half, but we made a few mistakes at the end,” he said. “Had we played with more discipline, I feel like we would have won. But it’s on me to get them ready.”

East St. John begins district play next week.

The Comets fell to H.L. Bourgeois Tuesday, 3-1. Hane scored the lone goal for SCC.

H.L. Bourgeois went up 3-0, scoring in the eighth, 24th and 27th minute of play.