By RYAN ARENA

L’Observateur

RESERVE — East St. John’s boys soccer team had a brief break from district action Wednesday as it traveled to face Lusher. The Wildcats shook off a halftime deficit to score three second half goals and rally for a 4-2 victory.

Tremand McQuater and Lynndeiz Fluence each scored twice in the win, which evened East St. John’s record at 10-10.

The Wildcats trailed 2-1 at halftime.

“We weren’t playing well at the beginning,” said ESJ coach Paul Dupuy. “But we made adjustments at half, mainly a positive attitude adjustment. Instead of tuning each other out, guys were cheering each other on.”

Dupuy said that Lusher brought a talented, skilled team to the field, but that he felt the Wildcats had a size and strength advantage that helped as the night went on.

“I thought we wore them down in the second half,” said Dupuy. “We started getting more shots and that enabled us to pull away.”

East St. John split its last two district matchups. Saturday saw the Wildcats fall at Bonnabel, 1-0, a loss that represented a tough setback for ESJ (10-10, 5-4); a win there would have set up a potential second place finish for the Wildcats with a win over Destrehan Friday (a game that was scheduled to be played after presstime).

“I really thought we played a good game. We had about nine shots that, honestly, looked like they could have or should have been goals. It was one of those days,” said Dupuy. “Bonnabel made a great play on their goal, scored on a perfect cross to the middle. Their goalkeeper played a great game as well.”

There was no such drama in ESJ’s victory over Higgins last week, a decisive 8-0 victory keyed by McQuater’s four-goal night. Jeremy Piper, Eric Joseph, Andrew Alexander and Aaron Duhe each scored to round out the Wildcats’ scoring.

The East St. John girls have made huge strides this season and were on the verge of a postseason appearance if they could defeat Destrehan on Friday (after presstime). That would put ESJ solidly in third place in district play; the Ladycats are currently 6-5.

ESJ set that scenerio up with a pair of district wins over Bonnabel and Higgins last week, defeating the Bruins 5-1 and the Hurricanes 15-0.

Against Higgins, Nyanza Bell scored five goals, Diamond Edwards scored three, and Brittany Harding and Ty’Ronnie Dreary each scored two. Toni Monroe, Desonta Burl and Quira Martin each added one.

Coach Joseph Perrilloux said getting Bell, the team’s top scorer, back from injury has been a big lift. He also credited his senior leaders for guiding the improvement: Desonta Burl, Taylor Washington and Harding.

“I think our girls just want it more now,” said Perrilloux. “They’ve had a taste of winning now and they want to get to the playoffs.

“Our seniors have done a great job teaching and leading this season. I’m proud of them, no matter how it falls on Friday.”