Road to redemption

Published 6:00 am Wednesday, February 21, 2018

CADE — A year ago, the ESA Falcons were playing in the Division IV state soccer championship at Tad Gormley Stadium, almost in the backyard of Isidore Newman School, and watched as the Greenies blitzed their way to a 6-1 win in the finals.

Saturday, the Falcons got a measure of revenge with a 5-0 win over Newman in the Division IV semifinals held at ESA to advance to the state championship game for the second straight year.

This Saturday, ESA has a second shot at redemption at Louisiana-Lafayette’s Ragin’ Cajun Track/Soccer Complex when it plays Northlake Christian at 2 p.m. in the Division IV boys’ state championship game.

This time, instead of traveling two hours to New Orleans, the Falcons get to travel about 20 minutes or so for the shot at the gold trophy.

“That’s what’s so great about it,” senior forward Matthew Pisani said. “Now we get to play for the title in front of all our fans and supporters in our backyard.”

ESA’s road to redemption has been more of a steamroller ride this season.

The Falcons have won 21 of 22 games, the only blemish being a tie, and have just about dismantled every opponent in their march towards the title game.

“The season’s gone by really quick,” Pisani said. “We worked hard all season to be able to get to this point and we’re happy to be able to be here again.

“We’re definitely ready for another shot at the state title.”

Pisani was a junior last season when the Falcons played in the finals against Newman. Now a senior, he vividly remembers the game.

“I don’t think that that we’ll be as nervous this time around. That’s the big thing,” he said. “I think that’s a pretty big deal. We’re all excited about being there again this time as opposed to being nervous, and we have nothing to lose this year.”

The ESA senior said the 2017 loss to Newman was a motivating factor for the 2018 squad.

“Definitely,” Pisani said. “It was heartbreaking to lose last year, especially the way that we did. And so Hunter (Ardizone) and I worked hard all year with this game on our minds.”

Before the Falcons could get back to the finals, there was the matter of the semifinal game against Newman, a team that seemed to be able to come up with a win against ESA any time they played.

“It was definitely a great way to end our home season, especially for the seniors who were part of the game last year,” Pisani said. “We’ve always considered them a big rival, even though we didn’t win many games against them in the past. 

“This being my last year, it felt good for me and the seniors to get one last chance at them.”

Ardizone is also looking forward to Saturday’s contest against Northlake Christian.

“It’s been a lot of fun,” he said. “We’ve been on a high winning every game except for that one tie. We just keep taking it one day at a time focusing on that next game and trying to get better as a group.

“I think the results speak for itself.”

With Newman dispatched, Ardizone feels the proverbial monkey is off ESA’s back.

“It’s a relief,” Ardizone said. “We’ve gotten that weight off our chest and now we can just play free. 

“Instead of being weighted down with not being able to beat Newman ever, now we can just focus on the one thing we’ve never done either, win the state championship.”

ESA coach J.B. Brunet is approaching the game with a business-as-usual attitude — another game, another chance to see his kids work hard, play hard and have a chance to come up with another win.

“We think about every game we have, every opponent we face,” Brunet said. “We try to study the opponent the best we can to try and prepare the boys for the game.

“We’re really looking forward to this game and try to break down our opponent as we always try to do.”