By RYAN ARENA

L’Observateur

THIBODAUX – St. Charles led for much of the second half, but E.D. White rallied late to capture a 2-1 District 8-III victory in boys soccer on Tuesday night.

The win (coupled with a 5-0 win over Riverside Thursday) sets the Cardinals (8-2-4, 4-0) up with a chance to clinch their district crown outright with a win today at St. Charles. The match is slated to begin at 1. St. Charles (10-6-2, 4-1) can clinch a split of the district crown with a victory.

The Comets scored first, eight minutes into the second half, on a jumbled play in the box. Josh Matherne took a 35-yard shot and the ball bounced around near the goal. Alex Rome, Andrew Brady and Albert Hane were all in the area as the Comets put it through.

“Nobody could verify who actually put it in,” said St. Charles coach Bill Ballard with a laugh. “Kind of controversial. But it gave us the lead.”

The Comets (10-6-2, 4-1) maintained that lead until the final 10 minutes of play.

As SCC goalkeeper Gerrard Giangrosso came out to challenge a shot, he got caught up out of position and Derek Knight converted a shot to tie the game 1-1.

A costly mistake did SCC in within the final three minutes of play. In the 77th minute, a penalty gave the Cardinals’ Davis Peltier a free kick just outside the 18-yard line. He lofted the ball over the wall of Comet defenders and into the upper corner of the net for the eventual winning goal.

“It was just a great shot,” said Ballard. “Over the wall, into the upper 90. Just like its supposed to be.”

Ballard said that some corrections at halftime helped yield the first score of the day for his team.

“But we knew it wasn’t over,” he said. “We had a long way to go.”

What was encouraging, he said, was that his team played well enough to win and its overall performance should feed the confidence of his players.

“The tough part of it is, you play in this game well for 78 minutes and bad for two, you’re going to lose,” said Ballard. “On Tuesday, though, we had a few who were very nervous. Everyone knew what was on the line, but everyone also knows now we can play with that team. There are no doubts in anyone’s minds about what an opportunity we have it we put it together Saturday.”

GIRLS SOCCER

E.D. White 6, St. Charles 0 – The Cardinals scored four first half goals en route to a district victory over St. Charles.

Hanna Waguespack scored twice for E.D. White. Olivia Coffman, Carlie Sternfels and Janie Thibodaux also scored goals for the Cardinals (11-9, 2-0). E.D. White also scored on a Comets’ own goal.

The teams will rematch today at 11 a.m.