By RYAN ARENA
L’Observateur

LAPLACE – East St. John’s Greg Burnett scored the game-winning goal in overtime Tuesday night to lead his Wildcats to a 3-2 district home victory over Thibodaux.
Ricardo Franco scored two goals in the game to lead East St. John.
Burnett’s goal came in the second 10 minute overtime period.
“It was a tough fight,” said East St. John coach Paul Dupuy. “It’s a big boost to our morale.”
The Wildcats boast a lineup full of youth, and Dupuy said a concern is always the focus of such a group tailing off after a slow start.
But Tuesday, he said his players responded to the challenge.
“Young guys can be easily discouraged at times. I was proud of how we toughed it out,” said Dupuy.
It was ESJ’s second win of the season, moving the Wildcats to a record of 2-5 overall and evening its district record at 2-2.
The victory came on the heels of a tough loss to Hahnville, 4-2, on Friday night.
Hahnville led that game 2-0 before ESJ charged back to tie things up, but the Tigers scored two second half goals to put things away.
Tony Warren and Raykuan Berry each scored goals for ESJ.
“We’re still making those freshmen type mistakes,” sais Dupuy. “This group has a lot of promise if everyone stays focused, but a lot of times those young guys think they’re going to go out and win every game. The confidence is good, but we’re not there yet.”
Dupuy does have high hopes for this group.
“This could be one of our best teams,” he said. “We’re relying on the core guys who played over the summer. That and just the raw ability of these guys … some of them haven’t played before. We’re playing three games a week, gaining experience, and the hope is we keep our focus and rapidly get better.”