Local trio to play in 1st All-Star Classic

Being chosen to play for a high school All-Star team is an honor only a relative few athletes experience each year in Louisiana.

For two recent New Iberia Senior High graduates and a recent Catholic High graduate, being named to the West team for the Louisiana High School Soccer Coaches Association All-Star Classic is a singular honor.

As members of the first girls’ soccer All-Star teams to take the field in the state, the three are among those paving the way for all the players to follow, said Rebecca Landry, one of the three players from the city chosen for the West squad.

“I’m really excited because it’s the first one,” said Landry. “We kind of set the standard for the rest to come.”

Lanie Hoffpauir of NISH and Ariele Bienvenu of Catholic High join Landry on the 22-player West team, as will ESA’s Ainsley Daigle. The boys’ and girls’ All-Star games will be played Saturday at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, with the girls playing at 4 p.m. and the boys at 7 p.m.

“I feel like it’s a real honor,” said Bienvenu. “Not many soccer players are chosen to participate on the team.”

Bienvenu is a three-time first-team choice on The Daily Iberian’s Best of the Teche Girls’ Soccer Team and was the Most Valuable Player on the squad in 2008 and 2009. Hoffpauir is a two-time first-team Best of the Teche pick and Landry was a first-team selection this year, while Daigle was an honorable mention.

Playing with, and against, the best players in the state is an exciting proposition. Several other Acadiana area players also are on the West team, including Maci Andrus and Brooke Perry of Lafayette High, Rachel Burger and Anna Heim of Comeaux, Kate Corley and Natalie Dronet of St. Thomas More, and Natalie Ieyoub and Maddie Landry of St. Louis Catholic.

“I’m really excited,” said Hoffpauir. “Just to be able to play with the best in the state is amazing. My team, the West side, I’ve played with a lot of them on select teams. I haven’t seen the girls from the East team. I’m interested to see how they look. I’m hoping for an even match because that makes for a more interesting game.”

Lafayette was a Division I, District 4 rival of NISH last season, while Comeaux and St. Thomas More move into the district next season and Lafayette moves to District 3. St. Louis, a District 3, Division III rival of Catholic High last year, moves up into Division II (Class 4A) next season.

“It’s really going to be strange playing with the others,” said Bienvenu. “For so long while I was playing against them at Catholic High they were considered the enemy, for lack of a better term. It’s going to be a different feeling to have them on the same team.”

The West team includes seven first-team LHSSCA All-State selections from 2008-09, including Division II MVP Cayla Chatman of Vandebilt Catholic and Division III MVP Ieyoub. Bienvenu also was a first-team All-State pick as a senior, as was St. Louis’ Maddie Landry, Rebecca Meehan of Parkway, Allyson Voisin of Vandebilt and Mary Lauren Wheelahan of Parkway. Daigle, Perry and Caddo Magnet’s Lauren Vizza were second-team picks in their respective divisions.

Rounding out the West squad are Britni Crone and Jessica Harradon of Terrebonne, Megan Hussey of Haughton, Ginny Scurlock of C.E. Byrd and Arnia Wallace of Westminster.

Katie Breaux of Lafayette is the head coach, with Lisa Levermann of C.E. Byrd and Philip Amedee of Vandebilt Catholic serving as assistants.

Rebecca Landry said that playing with so many girls from teams that play with different styles should make for an interesting day.

“Our team (NISH) is very relaxed,” said Landry. “Lanie’s going to be there with me, so we’re going to play hard, but we’re going to have fun.”

Both Hoffpauir and Bienvenu say they plan to enjoy themselves as well.

Just being able to play again is what Hoffpauir looks forward to most from the game. “I miss soccer,” she said.

“It’s my last shot at playing soccer,” said Bienvenu. “It was a real honor to play at Catholic High and while I had a chance to continue playing in college, I decided that being a student and being able to fully dedicate myself to my studies in college was what I wanted to do.

“I’ve had a good career playing soccer and I will always have fond memories of playing for Catholic High. It will be a strange feeling stepping on the field for my last game but it will be an enjoyable experience.”

Twelve of the players on the East team were named first-team All-State in 2008-09, including Megan Aultman of St. Joseph’s, Kaley Blanton and Sidney Robbins of Fontainebleau, Mae Casey and Casey Duplantier of Sacred Heart, Ellie Constantin and Hannah Romig of Isidore Newman, Kelly Gautreaux of St. Scholastica, Amy Howard and Bailey Kleis of Mandeville, Hannah Linzay of Bolton and Reyna Lubin of St. Charles Catholic.

Six others -- Mallory Geraci of Mount Carmel, Stephanie Henderson of Baton Rouge, Alacey Monconduit of East Ascension, Cambri Prevost of St. Thomas Aquinas, Kalyn Tanner of Zachary and Kim Treese of Pearl River -- were second-team All-Staters.

Margaret Eggers of St. Joseph’s, Heather Fitzgerald of Ponchatoula, Joeligh Hartman of St. Amant and Marissa Sizemore-Gardner of Tara round out the East team.

Pavlos Petrou of Mount Carmel is the head coach, with Craig Winchell of St. Joseph’s Academy and Bruce Deaton of Ouachita Christian serving as assistants.