By RYAN ARENA

L’ObSERVATEUR

After falling behind 1-0 against St. Charles Catholic last Thursday, Riverside has scored six straight goals in district play. And that leaves the Lady Rebels at the doorstep of school history.

Riverside defeated St. Martin’s 3-0 on Saturday afternoon in Reserve and is now one win away from clinching at least a share of the District 9-III championship, which would be the first district title in the history of the Rebels program.

Riverside, St. Charles and St. Martin’s comprise the three team district. SCC is 1-1 and St. Martin’s 0-2 in district play so far, with the Rebels sitting alone in first place at 2-0.

“It’s a good position to be in halfway through district play,” said Riverside coach Stephen Millet. “Obviously, we talked about how important each game is, being in a small district as we are. Our girls brought that kind of big game energy, and we got off to a quicker start than we did (against St. Charles).”

Jordan Duhon scored two goals and Shelby Deslatte scored another to guide Riverside, which now stands at 11-7-2 on the season.

Deslatte scored first to put RA ahead 1-0 12 minutes into the game, finishing the play off of a corner kick. Duhon scored her first goal before halftime and added another in the second half to push the Rebel lead out of reach for St. Martin’s.

“We regrouped at halftime and reminded everyone that it’s simple … if we win this half, we win the game,” said Millet. “we did a good job controlling the ball for the most part, working it around on our side of the field.”

BOYS SOCCER: ST. MARTIN’S 4, RIVERSIDE 1 — Riverside is still searching for its first victory this season, but the Rebels showed flashes of brilliance against a top-notch foe Saturday.

The Rebels led St. Martin’s, ranked fourth within the Division III power ranking, 1-0, 25 minutes into Saturday’s district game on a goal by Ryan Broussard.

St. Martin’s regrouped and scored two goals in the last 15 minutes of the first half to reestablish control, before adding two more in the second half to put things away.

Still, for a rebuilding Rebels team, it was a sign of major progress.

“Our first game against St. Martin’s was probably our best performance of the season, then we didn’t play so well against Haynes,” said Riverside coach Andrew Wright. “But for whatever reason, our guys stepped it up again against this team. They came out with a lot of energy … maybe it was knowing how strong the competition was.”

Wright said that he sees a group of Rebel seniors that began the season perhaps not on the same page as one another, but that are now gelling together.

“They’re coming together, and it’s bringing the younger kids together,” said Wright. “I feel like we’ve progressed a great deal.”

For Millet, it was a family affair Saturday — his brother, Matt, coaches St. Martin’s, and his parents were in attendance for the doubleheader.

“It was nice to have him there,” said Millet. “It was definitely a neat thing for me for both of us to be coaching games at Riverside. And having our parents there made it into a nice little function.”