By RYAN ARENA

L’Observateur

HAMMOND – St. Charles’ season officially came to an end Saturday afternoon as the Comets fell to host St. Thomas Aquinas 6-0 in the bi-district round of the Division III playoffs.

Grady Brame and Reece Durham each scored two goals to lead the Falcons. Jordan Bonfiglio and Blake Cordoba also scored goals.

“They were better than we were. There’s not much to say beyond that,” said St. Charles coach Bill Ballard. “I don’t think we played our best game, but I also think the opposition had a little something to do with that.”

St. Thomas Aquinas scored its first goal six minutes into the game and would lead 3-0 at halftime.

“They’re very deadly on free kicks,” said Ballard. “Inside of 30 yards, they’re very tough to stop. And right off the bat, we gave them one from 18 yards away … they missed, but they were able to play it back in and score. They made two of them.”

Ballard said that St. Thomas’ midfielders were key in controlling the action, as his team was unable to muster much of an offensive attack.

“They’re very good. Good touch passes, quick passes up top. They had it on our side of the field a lot … in the second half, I thought we might muster some offense on the better (less wet) end of the field, but it wasn’t to be.”

Ballard said that despite the loss, the season is something to build off of. The Comets boasted their biggest roster ever this season, and he said that his players all seem committed to playing club ball this summer. 2010-11 was the first time since 2007-2008 that the team had won double digit games, finishing with a record of 10-8-2.