Sports Persons of the Week - Saint Louis Catholic Boys Soccer

Lake Charles, LA (KPLC) - The Saint Louis Catholic Saints came into the 2022-2023 season with optimism, but what they didn’t expect was to lose something before it even started. November 21st, 2022, Phillip Connor, a player on the team passed away from a car accident at 16 years of age. The death of Connor was difficult for the team, as Head Coach Jason Oertling stated, it reshaped the Saints’ entire season.

As the season began for Saint Louis Catholic, Oertling noticed the resiliency of his team stating, “I think this this season has taught us about that word even more, so not just being resilient on the field, but they’ve been forced to be resilient in life. We just consoled each other and we played for each other and we got out there and we’re able to even put a smile on her face every once in a while because they knew that we were playing for kind of a higher purpose.”

The team leaned on each other throughout the whole season, and this past Wednesday all the hard work that they put in paid off. Saint Louis Catholic beat Washington-Marion 8-0 to win the Division III District III Championship, Coach Oertling made it clear that the win was a testimony to the team staying together, and also talked about how this is one of the most mentally strong teams that he has ever had.

“For everything that we’ve been through, and to be able to achieve that on Wednesday was incredible... I think also as special as that was I think the kids know that you know, the playoffs are what we’ve been practicing for and working for and I know that we really want to do well in the next few weeks” said coach Oertling.

“It was extremely special, it was a great experience for us and keeping him in our memory every day. Wearing the arm bands for him it’s very special to us and we fought hard, we’ve been fighting throughout the season, I mean, we’ve all kept our heads up. We’ve gone through so much as a team, especially throughout my four years with the hurricane, COVID, and now Philip. We know that if we struggle outside of the field when we step on it, we’re brothers, and we can always talk to each other and we just get out here and have fun” said team captain Jackson Avery.

The Saints wrap up their regular season on Saturday at the McNeese Cowgirls Soccer Field against Ascension Episcopal, before they prepare to try to make a run for the State Championship.

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