By Kyle Roberts
RUSTON, La. — Following the season successes of both respective programs, both the Ruston High girls’ and boys’ soccer squads will be hosting first round tournament matchups tonight: the Lady Bearcats (8-5-3) will host Sam Houston (7-8-4) at 5 p.m. at Hoss Garrett Stadium, and the boys (10-4-4) will follow afterward against David Thibodeaux (10-7-4) at 6:45 p.m.
Both teams will enter the playoffs as the No. 14 seed in Division II.
“We are looking forward to hosting Sam Houston,” Lady Bearcat head coach Jacquelyn Bean said. “They are a strong team, and looking at their scheduled competition from this season, they finished lower in the rankings than they should have, they will test us on multiple levels of play. We have been working tirelessly to improve our ranking in the last two weeks to be able to host in the first round.
“After hosting Neville on Monday, which is the match we most look forward to on our entire schedule, our girls are super pumped about how the 2025 regular season ended getting that win. Our Lady Bearcat Seniors are an impressive group of leaders who are both strong and tough. I’m proud to have been their coach for the past three seasons.”
Bearcat head coach Isaac Ramirez also shared his excitement for his team to host a playoff match, as well.
“We are extremely excited to be able to host a home playoff game,” Ramirez said. “It’s something that boys soccer hasn’t been able to achieve in quite some time. This season has been a huge success. We ended our regular season with a 10-4-4 record. The first time since 2018 that boys soccer has had a winning record. Our goal was to win district this season, but a loss in penalty kicks kept us from achieving that goal, placing us 2nd in district.”
“However, I couldn’t be more proud of this team and the hard work they have put in this season. I’ve told the boys from the beginning, “Hard work beats talent, when talent doesn’t work hard” and this season has been a reflection of that quote. They have become a family and we have a great group of seniors and juniors that have become leaders on this team and have set an example of what we are aiming to achieve every season moving forward.”
Admission will be $7 for both matches. Tickets can be purchased on GoFAN.
