The Mandeville Soccer Club U14 boys Lakers, the Louisiana State Cup winners, were coached by Shane Jeanfreau in the U.S. Youth Soccer Region III Championships held in North Carolina. Jeanfreau said his team gained valuable experience and played hard.

“What’s exciting for us is that this time around we went in and competed. We felt we deserved to be there, and our players performed well,” Jeanfreau said.

Goals were definitely at a premium for the Lakers, who scored just two goals in three games. “The level of play is so strong that you don’t get too many quality scoring opportunities. When those chances present themselves, you need to capitalize,” Jeanfreau said.

In last Friday’s opening game in bracket play, the U14 boys were blanked by the Concorde Fire, representing Georgia, 3-0.

In last Saturday’s second game, the Lakers fell to Kendall Coalition from Florida, 3-1. The U14s trailed 3-0 at the half. Peter Harvey finally broke through and tallied the Lakers’ first goal of the tournament in the first minute of the second half. Kannon Otillo was credited with an assist on Harvey’s goal.

The U14s closed out their tournament play, dropping a hard fought, 2-1, game to ICFC Black from Arkansas. ICFC Black scored first booting home a goal on a penalty kick in the 15th minute to take the lead. Seth Hagan brought the Lakers back with the equalizer, notching a goal in the 20th minute. Hagan’s goal also came on a penalty kick. The match was tied 1-1 at the half.

Twenty minutes into the second half, Arkansas tallied the game-winner on a cross, which was headed directly into the goal.

Jeanfreau named Kyle Pagan as the Lakers’ top defender. Sean Ross and Will Barnett shared time in goal for the Lakers.

“You have to be very organized and disciplined on defense,” Jeanfreau said. “We went into the tournament looking to gain experience, and I feel we accomplished that. The first thing that stands out is the speed of play at that level. The pace of play is a lot quicker than we are used to seeing. The players are under added pressure to make quicker decisions with and without the ball,” Jeanfreau added.

“The boys played with spirit and lots of Laker pride. It’s been a great run with a talented group of players.”

Jeanfreau, the director of coaching and player development, said he was proud of the fact t two of the three teams representing Louisiana that advanced out of bracket play in the Region III Championships were MSC Lakers’ clubs, the U15 girls coached by Mike Ortner, making it to the quarterfinals, and the U17 girls coached by Wes Leake, which advanced to the semifinals.