By RYAN ARENA

L’Observateur

East St. John’s girls’ soccer team has struggled in recent years, but district play has seen the Ladycats find their stride.

ESJ defeated Riverdale this week, 3-0, to move to 3-2 in district play. The Wildcats trail district-leading Hahnville, and a matchup with Hahnville on January 3 could potentially determine sole possession of second place. ESJ is currently tied with DHS and Bonnabel.

Darilyn Sampson, Diamond Edwards and Brittany Hartin each scored goals for ESJ in the win.

ESJ has beaten Riverdale, Ehret and Higgins in district —the latter two by identical 4-1 score. It has lost to Hahnville and Bonnabel, the latter recently coming via a shootout after two overtimes.

After regulation, ESJ and Bonnabel were tied at 1 — ESJ’s goal coming on an Edwards penalty kick. Each team scored in the first 10 minute overtime period, with Sampson scoring for the Wildcats. The teams went scoreless in the second overtime. Bonnabel outscored ESJ 4-3 in the shootout.

ESJ coach Joseph Perrilloux said that his team struggled in predistrict against a brutal schedule, but that it prepared his players for the district grind.

“Those teams made us better. We’ve got girls who want to learn the game,” said Perrilloux, who notes that ESJ has one of its district’s youngest teams. “I told them when we were winless, ‘Just believe. We will win once we get to district.’ And they do. They’ve given me everything they’ve got and they do all I ask.”

A reason for further optimism is the impending return of Nyayza Bell, the team’s most dangerous scorer who has been sidelined this season. Perrilloux believes she will be back soon for the second go-round through district play, and perhaps as early as the Destrehan game to wrap up the first round.

“She’s our leader,” said Perrilloux. “These girls are holding it down. We’ve got 14 on our team right now, and you can see them give 100 percent each time out.”

Perrilloux said that the goal is and remains reaching the playoffs, a goal the Wildcats appear in good position to secure if their district success continues.

“Everyone is working toward that,” he said. “They want everyone to see how hard they’ve been working.”