By RYAN ARENA

L’Observateur

RESERVE — Riverside just missed on an undefeated District 9-III championship a year ago, and the Lady Rebels showed Friday that they were clearly not about to let it happen again.

Their dominating 8-2 victory over visiting Haynes Friday at Mickey Roussel Field told the tale of a Riverside team not about to rest upon its laurels after clinching an outright district championship days earlier.

“Last season they won it for the first time. This year, they wanted to go undefeated in district for the first time ever, ” said Brittany St. Pierre, who leads the team to that milestone in her initial season as head coach. “This is something everyone wanted, especially our seniors.”

Mary Gurley scored three times to lead a group of six Rebel scorers. Kaitlyn Masters, Caitlin Roussel, Jordan Duhon, Taylor Terrio and Maddie Duhon each scored goals for Riverside (15-8-3, 6-0), which has completed its regular season and now awaits its playoff seed and matchup next week.

The Rebels led 4-1 at halftime.

After a hot start, Riverside suffered a brief midseason slump before entering district play, then lost one of its top offensive threats, Jordan Duhon, for the first round of district play.

But instead of suffering a crash landing, Riverside appears to be playing its best soccer. The Rebels have won each of their six district games by three goals or more and have scored eight goals in a match twice in that span.

“These girls have played together since their 8th grade year,” said St. Pierre of the team’s eight seniors. “They’ve built this and are leaving a legacy of success. Our goal is to keep building on that and keep the momentum going until one day, hopefully, we win a (state) championship here. They’re paving the way.”