Ryan Melancon scored in the 64th minute and Jordan LeBlanc had several second-half saves including one where he tapped the ball over the cross bar at the last second as New Iberia Senior High knocked off Acadiana 1-0 in the soccer opener for both teams Tuesday.

The win marked the second year in a row that NISH has beaten Acadiana.

“We preached to the boys that this was a statement game for us,” said NISH coach Kevin Hardy. “Last year when we beat them in the first game of the year the whole state noticed and we rode that recognition through the season.

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“Repeating the feat again this year should cement our status as one of the better programs in the state. People won’t soon forget that in a game that most would have assumed Acadiana would get revenge for our upset last year, we prevailed again. This was a signature win for us.”

After a scoreless first half, Melancon received a pass from Brett Viator and he deposited the ball low past a diving Acadiana goalie inside the far post.

“That goal was amazing,” said Hardy. “I put Brett Viator in the game and urged him to make something happen. He was all over the place and got the ball in a position to send it through to Ryan Melancon.”

The NISH junior took over from there.

“I was kind of nervous,” said Melancon. “The ball that Brett gave me I saw coming so I made the play and put it in. That felt great to get the first goal of the year and the win against Acadiana.”

“I could see that the goalie had overplayed and Ryan had an opportunity at an open goal but it sure seemed like an eternity for that ball to sneak inside that post,” Hardy said.

NISH survived several Acadiana attacks in the final 16 minutes of the contest and LeBlanc made several saves, including one ball he lifted up and over the crossbar after an Acadiana corner kick.

“That palm lift over the goal was a classic,” said Hardy, who said that LeBlanc played one of the best games in goal in NISH history. “He also came up big on a punch-out of a dangerous ball played into the box.”

The Jacket goalie, who finished with nine saves, stood firm in the face of relentless attacks for the first shutout of the year.

“Our defense played great,” said LeBlanc. “We stuck it to them. The ball that came in reflected off a guy’s head and I had to have a quick reaction to get to it and I flicked it over the goal.

“To beat Acadiana and to get a shutout feels great.”

Hardy also credited the back line of Tyler Inzerella, Colby Delahoussaye, Matt Fowler and Justin Fuselier and made special mention of Jacob Leleux’s play.

“We asked Jacob to man-mark their best player and he shut him down and frustrated him,” said Hardy. “It was a selfless effort from someone who normally plays forward.”

NISH returns to action this weekend in the Carencro Showcase Tournament. In the junior varsity game, NISH forged a 1-1 tie with the Jacket goal coming from Michael Guillot.