By RYAN ARENA

L’Observateur

St. Charles Catholic’s impressive late-season march came to an end Thursday in the bi-district round of the playoffs, as No. 8 seeded Opelousas Catholic captured a 4-0 victory over the visiting Comets at home.

“We just didn’t play up to our potential,” said St. Charles coach Eleno Rodriguez. “That isn’t to say that we didn’t play hard … Our players gave a lot of effort, but it wasn’t as productive as it has been.”

Opelousas scored three first half goals to take control of the game.

“(Opelousas Catholic was) able to effectively move the ball down the field,” said Rodriguez.

“They made some nice cross passes and used that ball movement to catch us out of position on a few occasions. They did a good job.”

It ended a late-season run to the playoffs for the Comets that was unlikely in many respects; a team that struggled offensively and went winless through predistrict and one round of district play suddenly caught fire, winning three straight games to secure second place in District 8-III and scoring eight goals over the final two.

Rodriguez said he thought the late season push might have taken a bit out of his players physically and mentally.

“They’ve worked so hard that it might have taken a toll,” said Rodriguez.

“We’re very young … They’ve been giving it everything.”

Rodriguez did praise his Comet players for turning their season around when an early losing streak and other turmoil could have left them feeling defeated.

“We’ve got something to build on next season,” he said.