Two of the New Orleans area’s top programs took to the pitch on an overcast Saturday afternoon at Pan American Stadium to play their annual rivalry match.
Sacred Heart and Newman came into the game on a roll, as the Cardinals had won four straight matches and the Greenies sported an eight-game undefeated streak.
The Cardinals scored a late goal off the feet of Carolina Mehaffie to post a 1-1 draw against the Greenies that featured physical play from both sides.
Sacred Heart (10-5-3) trailed 1-0 with less than five minutes to play. The home team had one good chance in the second half when Leah Varisco drilled a shot in the penalty box off a corner kick right at the goal in the 57th minute.
But Newman goalkeeper Weezy Biever corralled the save to keep the Cardinals off the scoreboard.
Mehaffie changed that in the 77th minute when she shook free of her defender and blasted the ball into the back of the net at close range for the equalizer. Neither team threatened in the final three minutes.
“We’ve had some draws this year that felt like a loss, and we were disappointed,” Sacred Heart coach Mark Dubuisson said. “This one, it was a fair result. I’ll take it.”
Newman (13-4-5) had its first opportunity to take the lead when Vivian Real fouled Lily Arjmand in the penalty box. Hannah Plaisance lined up to take the penalty kick but sailed the ball over the crossbar to give a sigh of relief to Sacred Heart.
in the 67th minute, the Greenies converted on one of their attempts after some miscommunication between the backline of the Cardinals’ defense. Senior Anne Chawla took advantage and blasted the shot past Daisy Mooney for the 1-0 lead.
Sacred Heart is playing its first season as a member of Division III after winning the Division IV state title in 2022. The Cardinals also knocked off Newman in the quarterfinals last year during its march to the title.
While the two teams don’t play in the same classification anymore, Mehaffie said the rivalry is still alive and well.
“We’re all very close and friends off the field,” she said. “But when we get on the field, it’s very intense.”
It was an even first half as both teams had two shots and two corner kicks apiece. The Greenies had their corner kicks in the 19th and 20th minutes, but both were cleared out of the penalty box by the Sacred Heart defense.
Plaisance had a free kick opportunity in the 38th minute from roughly 30 yards out but sent the ball over the crossbar.
“This was probably the worst first half we’ve had all year,” Newman coach Doug Freese said. “We played a tough Pope John Paul II team recently and came out with a win that we deserved. If we play that way, we’re going to win. If we don’t play like that, we’re going to struggle.”
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