Both the
Jesuit (New Orleans) boys and the
St. Scholastica (Covington) girls were denied in their bids to win third consecutive Louisiana High School Athletic Association Division I-Class 5A state soccer championships.
Will Guttermann scored the winning goal with four minutes remaining to lift second-seeded
St. Paul's (Covington) past top-seeded Jesuit, 2-1, for the state title at Tad Gormley Stadium.
Sixth-seeded
St. Mary's Dominican (New Orleans) won by the same score in the girls final, with Katherine Kuntz scoring both goals against fifth-seeded St. Scholastica.
Guttmerman's goal gave Jesuit its first loss in 95 matches and prevented the Blue Jays (26-1-2) from winning their fourth state title in the last five years. Jesuit had shut out 13 consecutive opponents, including St. Paul's, which it had defeated, 1-0, during the regular season on Dec. 29.
St. Paul's defense proved to be even stronger. St. Paul's allowed only 11 goals all season, with no team scoring more than once. St. Paul's had lost to Jesuit in the 2007 final, 2-0, and fell to the Blue Jays in each of the last three years in the St. Paul's Tournament.
Kuntz, a University of Louisiana at Monroe signee, was named Most Outstanding Player of the girls final. She scored her first goal after she lifted a corner kick in the 30th minute. Teammate Brittney Burke finally gained control and crossed the ball back to Kuntz. Kuntz then fired a shot into the lower left corner of the net just past diving St. Scholastica goal keeper Sara Kuebel for the only score of the first half.
Taking another corner kick at the 50th minute, Kuntz sent the ball just inside the far post to give Dominican (20-6-3) a 2-0 lead.
St. Scholastica (15-5-1) scored its only goal in the 55th minute when junior Kim Moreau tallied off an assist from Maegan Due. With senior goalkeeper Catalina Rubiano leading the way, Dominican thwarted St. Scholastica's attack for the rest of the match.
VANDEBILT CATHOLIC FALLS TWICEVandebilt Catholic (Houma) lost in the Division II boys and girls finals, with the boys falling to
St. Louis (Lake Charles), 1-0, at the McNeese State Soccer Complex in Lake Charles, and the girls falling to
Teurlings Catholic (Lafayette), 2-1, at Buddy Marcello Stadium in Houma.
St. Louis won its eighth title in nine finals appearances, with Matthew Jester scoring off an assist from Hunter Hodgkins at 22:30 of the first half. It was the first postseason goal allowed by Vandebilt Catholic and freshman goalkeeper Patrick Watson.
The Vandebilt Catholic boys were seeking their eighth title, as well, while the girls were stopped short in their quest to win a third state championship in four years.
The Teurlings girls won their first state title after having lost to Vandebilt Catholic in the 2008 finals and last year's semifinals. Sarah Hollier scored the winning goal with the rebound shot off a direct kick.
After a scoreless first half, Teurlings (19-4) took the lead on Hannah Savoie's goal in the 42nd minute. Vandebilt's Meghan Philp tied the score with a header in the 56th minute before Hollier responded with her game-winner.
NORTHLAKE CHRISTIAN, SACRED HEART WINFreshmen Timmy Lopez, Weston Acosta and Zach Shaw led
Northlake Christian (Covington) to the Division III boys title with a 3-0 victory over Ben Franklin (New Orleans), while top-seeded
Sacred Heart (Ville Platte) repeated as the girls champion with a 3-1 victory over No. 2 Catholic of New Iberia.
Lopez scored first on a header off Acosta's corner kick in the 10th minute. Twenty minutes later, Acosta scored on a penalty kick, as Northlake finished with a 24-4-2 record. Ben Franklin fell to 12-7-1.
In the closing minutes, Shaw scored after Acosta's penalty kick and Cam Broussard's assist.
"We just drew that up in practice yesterday," Shaw said. "We knew if we got the chance to try it, it would work."
Sacred Heart (26-5-1) overcame a 1-0 halftime deficit en route to its victory over Catholic of New Iberia (29-3-1).
Junior Kristen Kern gave Sacred Heart its first goal in the 44th minute when she lifted a shot over the head of junior goalkeeper Taylor Lahasky. Senior Katherine Moody added a goal in the 72nd minute on a sliding kick from the right side. Sophomore Sarah Martin added an insurance goal in the open field in the 79th minute.
