From staff reports
SLIDELL — The Pope John Paul Lady Jags entered the Louisiana High School Athletic Association’s soccer playoffs with a No. 8 seed and got a first-round home game against the St. Martin Saints.
PJP?won the match 4-1, and moved on to the regional round where the Lady Jags played district rival St.?Thomas Aquinas on Wednesday night. Results from that game concluded after the Slidell Independent’s deadline and will be reported on in next week’s newspaper.
During the season, the Lady Jaguars defeated the STA Lady Falcons twice but both games were very close; the last one resolved in PK’s 2-0 as PJP goalie Alexis Molero successfully stopped three of STA’s goal attempts.
In the bi-district game, the match against St.?Martin began as a defensive battle as the first 15 minutes displayed strong defense by both teams.
Both teams evaluated each others offenses, the play began to intensify and took on a playoffs atmosphere. In the 17th minute, the Lady Jags’ offense settled down and Jessica Mahoney completed a counter-attack with a shot in the right corner.
In the 35th minute, the Lady Jags’ offense again was able to work the ball down the field with several key passes. Once again, Mahoney was able to finish the attack.
With the score 2- 0 and a minute left in the half, the Lady Saints of St. Martin successfully got the ball past midfield and were able to score as the half ended 2-1.
In the second half, Pope John Paul scored quickly in the 42nd minute as Kristen Calamari provided Mahoney with a pass that she converted for a quick goal to earn a hat trick.
As the game entered the final 10 minutes, Mahoney provided senior Amy Melendez with a perfect pass that Melendez converted to a goal as she brushed the pass into the bottom left portion of the goal to complete the scoring for PJP as the match ended.