Déjà vu?: MCHS looking to top E.D. White for the second straight year

Morgan City High School soccer coach Trevor Patterson admits his and E.D. White’s teams that met on the soccer field in 2015 when Morgan City upset E.D. White in the second round of playoffs are not the same teams that will meet each other Wednesday night at 7 p.m. in Thibodaux.
He says his team no longer has a “true stryker” like they had in Irving Delgado, who scored the game-winning goal a year ago, while E.D. White is more physical and quicker this year.
However, despite those and some other differences — some different players, a drop in classification from Division II to Division III and Morgan City’s lack of a first-round blowout like a year ago — Wednesday’s matchup has some eerie similarities.
First of all, the teams are meeting in the second round for the second straight year at E.D. White.
Secondly, the Cardinals are the higher seed for the second straight year — No. 3 this season and No. 6 in 2015.
And lastly, just like it had in 2015, Morgan City played E.D. White a lot closer in Morgan City than it had at E.D. White, falling at home by an identical 1-0 score this year as last year.
Coming into this year’s postseason matchup, Patterson said this rematch can have an effect mentally on both teams.
“I think it’s a big mental thing on both sides, for us knowing that we can do it and also for them knowing that it was done to them,” Patterson said. “Will he (E.D. White Coach Roger Bimah) play a little bit differently than he did last year? (It’s a) possibility. I know I’m going to change my formation going into it.”
Scoring has been a problem for Morgan City this year, and that trend continued in its first round game against International High School of New Orleans.
While the Tigers had opportunities for goals, they couldn’t get the ball in the net.
The game went through 80 minutes of regulation, two 10-minute overtime periods and two five-minute sudden death periods before finally heading to penalty kicks, where the Tigers topped the Panthers 4-3.
Although Saturday was a grueling game for the Tigers, the Tigers had a similar experience before the end of the season when they had to play three games, beginning with E.D. White, on three straight days, due to rainouts.
Patterson said his squad handled the situation well then and again Saturday, noting that conditioning typically hasn’t been a problem for his squad.
He noted Saturday that International High School of New Orleans seemed to get more tired than Morgan City did heading towards the overtime period.
Patterson said his squad is working on some set pieces heading into the E.D. White game to generate scoring.
He watched the E.D. White game that was played in Morgan City and said the Tigers had opportunities to score.
“I think they scored the first goal,” Patterson said. “We had a chance to tie it up. It went wide, and I think we had another chance after that if we would have scored, to have went ahead. … It’s not our year for scoring.”
While Morgan City has had problems scoring, defensively, outside a handful of games including the first match against E.D. White in Thibodaux, the Tigers have performed well.
“E.D. White, playing on their turf, they are going to be a lot better and faster,” Patterson said. “That’s why, even last year, the score over there was higher than it was on our home field because they’re so used to that fast play and that wider play. When they get to a narrower field (like in Morgan City), they can’t do the plays like they’re used to. Yes, I know in the end we did beat them last year on their home field, but it is a big advantage for them to have it.”