St. Aloysius bids farewell to program pioneers|[1/27/06]

Published 12:00 am Friday, January 27, 2006

Erin Sigh has a problem.

The St. Aloysius soccer standout has offers to play college soccer at Delta State, but has also just been accepted to LSU.

The longtime Bayou Bengals fanatic knows that if she picks LSU, her soccer career will probably be over. If she picks Delta State, she’ll play, but she always has loved LSU.

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She said she is still hoping Louisiana Tech makes an offer.

&#8220I don’t know what I am going to do,” she said with a chuckle. &#8220I just got accepted (to LSU) this week, so I will probably think about it for a while.”

Sigh has two more games left in her prep career, then she can concentrate on college.

The Lady Flashes are scheduled to play at Cathedral tonight, then close out the season with a home finale on Saturday morning at 11 against Greenville.

Saturday’s game will also mark the departure of the school’s most prolific soccer scorer.

Andrea Harrison, who plays offense opposite Sigh’s defense, has amassed 91 goals in three seasons on the girls team, which only came into existence when she was a sophomore. Before that, she played on the boys team for one season.

&#8220It’s gonna be sad,” Harrison said of her final game on Saturday, which will begin with a purple-and-gold scrimmage game with the boys team and conclude with the Greenville game. &#8220It’s gone by so fast.”

Harrison scored a career-high 35 goals as a junior as the Flashes led a top state scoring team with 89 goals. She signed with Mississippi State early in the November signing period.

She’ll become the second St. Aloysius girl to play soccer at Mississippi State. Lauren Hall also played for the Bulldogs.

&#8220I feel honored to be able to play at that level,” Harrison said. &#8220I’m nervous, but I am looking forward to it.”

St. Al coach Karen Carroll, who started coaching the girls team three years ago, said losing her two seniors will take time to overcome.

&#8220Andrea has had a great three years here, but she couldn’t have done it without Erin behind her,” Carroll said. &#8220… We lose our offense and our defense.”

The Lady Flashes are loaded with eighth-grade talent, Carroll said, and that should make the transition a little smoother. It certainly won’t replace the impact Harrison and Sigh have had on the team’s rise.

&#8220Both Erin and Andrea were experienced players coming in here, playing on club teams and (Olympic development teams),” Carroll said. &#8220That first year was a trial. We had four or five who knew the game and the others just tagged along.”

The team has progressively gotten better against some of the state’s top competition, including division rivals Madison-St. Joe and Greenville-St. Joe.

&#8220The defense will be fine next year,” Sigh said. &#8220The offense will have to work a little. It’s a lot of young players. They’ll learn, though.”