St. Tammany News

The soccer playoffs get underway tonight on the Northshore. St. Scholastica Academy (9-7-1), which finished 9-5 in District 7-1 will host district rival Northshore Lady Panthers tonight at 6 o’clock with the game being played on the turf at Hunter Stadium on the St. Paul’s campus.

SSA, the No. 12 seed, squares off with Northshore (9-7), which enters as a No. 21 seed. The teams tied for third place in the district playing competitive matches in their district meetings this season. Northshore took the first game, winning 2-1 on the road, while SSA came back to win the second meeting at NHS, 2-0.

SSA coach Mike Ortner is in his fourth full season as the Doves’ head coach after taking over from Terry Morris. The Doves, the defending Division I soccer champs, downed Fontainebleau 4-0 last year to gain the state crown.

Ortner said SSA’s combination of junior forwards Emily Descant and Ashley Martinez would be an integral part of the Doves’ offense.

“Those two along with the Beatty sisters, Danielle and Rebecca, being able to effectively distribute the ball to our forwards and our wide midfielders Sarah Gaudet and Elise Gagnon, will be key to our success,” Ortner said.

“In the back, we will look to keep the ball in front of us with senior Camille Shepherd and junior Natalie Childress organizing our defensive back line,” he said.

Sarah Kuebel, the Doves’ junior goalkeeper, can be counted to come up with key saves in crucial situations.

“Northshore has Sarah Bonura along with two crafty forwards, who are very quick and are a big time threat when they are able to get in behind the defense,” Ortner said.

Ortner described Northshore as an effective team going forward and play solid defense.

“In my opinion, they are definitely deserving of a higher seed than No. 21.”

Lady Panthers first-year coach Jeff Dunlap talked about the match.

“Both teams know each other, so there won’t be a lot of hidden surprises,” Dunlap said.

“Mike (Ortner) and I talked Wednesday and we both agree that it could be anybody’s game,” Dunlap added.

NHS’ top three offensive players are Sarah Bonura, Tatiana Carrasquilla and Madison Doll.

Dunlap said Lauren Bartholomay, Leland Emery and Emily Joyce would have to come up big for the Lady Panthers defensively.