Gaining Strength: Prairieville soccer program continues to progress in second season
by William Weathers // GeauxPreps.com Contributor
The opening of Prairieville High’s new sprawling campus in 2025 was in part the result of an exploding population in the Western part of Ascension Parish.
The school’s population was a melding of students from existing Class 5A schools, Dutchtown, East Ascension, and St. Amant, joining existing students already zoned to attend the glistening new school.
Soccer was already a successful sport in the parish with all three schools producing state playoff quality programs, coupled with the parish’s competitive club-level options.
Prairieville High was an instant success under veteran coach Adrian Garcia, winning its district and advancing to the Division II state regionals against Archbishop Rummel.
The Hurricanes rallied from a two-goal deficit with a pair of second-half goals until enduring a 3-2 defeat when an own goal in the 76th minute ended the season.
“A lot of these kids last year had a choice to stay at their school or not, or go to the new school,” Garcia said. “A lot of them went in not knowing me or how I do things. They’ve bought in, and it’s been great.”
The first year was promising, but the second season of Prairieville soccer has gone beyond that for a team with a 14-2 record and ranked No. 4 in Division II. The Hurricanes, who are riding an 11-match winning streak, travel to Dutchtown (5-6-3) for a non-district match at 6 p.m. Tuesday.
“The hard thing last year was the kid’s kind of assuming that, ‘I played here last year. I’m going to play here this year,’” Garcia said. “Anytime you have a good program, you have competition and kids willing to compete. I’ve been really pleased with the mindset of these kids where they may have started last year. They’re willing to make the most of the minutes they’ve gotten this year or whatever opportunities they’ve gotten for big moments.’”
Prairieville can match last year’s victory total with a win over Dutchtown, which it lost to 4-0 last season.
The Hurricanes, who didn’t have a senior on last year’s roster, have their entire roster back, which includes four seniors, two of whom – goalkeeper Benjamin Tilley and center back Carl Roussel – are the team’s captains.
“Last year, a lot of these guys, whether they were freshmen coming from Dutchtown or St. Amant, they didn’t have a lot of minutes,” Garcia said. “They didn’t have a lot of experience, a lot of success, or failure. They did a good job with how we attacked the summer and offseason in conditioning, getting more touches on the ball. I’ve been really pleased with that. With how they’ve handled gaining experience quicker, probably than people expected.”
Then, Prairieville principal Randy Loving is credited with making certain his school had the right man to lead its first soccer team.
Garcia was looking to step aside after building one of the state’s top Division I programs at St. Amant, where for 18 seasons, he led the Gators to a 300-76-22 record with an appearance in the state semifinals in 2019.
“I was looking to take a break,” said Garcia, also a successful club coach with Baton Rouge Soccer Association. “My kids were getting older. I wanted to spend more time with my wife. When you talk to somebody else, you realize that you were put on this Earth to be a coach and to coach soccer. Taking a break from that was maybe a waste of what I enjoy doing and what I’m really good at.”
Garcia may have coached in nearly 400 matches at St. Amant, but accepting the challenge at Prairieville was foreign to him. He credited assistants, Jared Moss, Joe Cretini, and Jason Carillo, for helping bridge the gaps between players from competing schools into a tight-knit unit.
“My time at St. Amant may have prepared me a little bit, but this is all something new for me as well,” said Garcia, now 329-82-22 overall. “Last year was kind of an unknown. This year’s there’s more expectations. They took the unknown really well. So far, they’ve taken the expectations really good.
“I felt like I’ve always had the energy,” Garcia said. “I didn’t know how the school would buy into soccer. I was very fortunate at St. Amant. They were very pro-soccer and helped with whatever we needed. Prairieville has done an amazing job. They trust me to make the best decisions to build a program.”
Prairieville won its first seven matches in 2024 before running into Holy Cross, losing 4-0. The Hurricanes only lost twice and tied three times in their last 13 matches of the regular season.
They split with parish counterparts (4-0 loss to Dutchtown, 2-1 win over East Ascension) and wrapped up the district title (5-0) with wins over Liberty Magnet (6-0) and West Feliciana (8-0), and a win over Tara in penalty kicks shootout.
The Hurricanes shut out Comeaux 5-0 for the program’s first playoff win before dropping the one-goal decision to Rummel.
Garcia acknowledged the benefit of having a start-up program that didn’t get thrown into the deep end of the pool last year.
Prairieville was designated to play in Division II for two years, which helped prepare the Hurricanes for their move to Division I next season.
Prairieville’s biggest sports – football, basketball, and baseball – are part of District 5-5A. The school is expected to have an enrollment in excess of 1,600 students for the 2026-27 academic year.
“I’m blessed to say that had a big impact and a reason why we’re having early success,” Garcia said. “Not all sports at Prairieville had the luxury of starting D2. I didn’t expect it. We found out a couple of weeks before the season started that we were D2. I’m looking forward to that challenge in Division I next year.”
Two-time reigning state champion Holy Cross remains a standard bearer in Division II. The Tigers paid a visit for a preseason scrimmage against the Hurricanes.
“Holy Cross is the cream of this division,” Garcia said. “We wanted to see where we stood as well as show them we had some quality. We left feeling we had work to do, but the task wasn’t out of reach.”
Six-time state champion Holy Cross is Division II’s top-rated team, followed by Teurlings Catholic, Willow, and Prairieville in the state coaches’ poll. The Rebels are No. 1 in the unofficial power ratings, with the Hurricanes second.
“Division II’s no joke in terms of soccer-specific schools; there’s no hiding,” Garcia said. “It feels real now. Jesuit, St. Paul’s, Catholic, Brother Martin, they speak for themselves. It’s where we need to be next year, and we’ll certainly be ready.”
The excitement of two one-goal victories to begin the season was tempered when Prairieville traveled to a Nov. 21-22 tournament in Shreveport hosted by Loyola College Prep.
Following a 2-1 win over Division I Byrd, Prairieville suffered consecutive losses to Division III power Bossier (5-1) and Division I foe Benton (3-2).
“We got into this high school mode of kick, kick, kick and hope for the best,” Garcia said. “The focus wasn’t there. The Shreveport trip was the best thing for us. We were able to play some good teams, and credit Bossier and Benton for beating us. We weren’t where we thought we needed to be.
“We had a couple of heart-to-hearts with some of our leaders, getting it right and realizing how quick this thing passes through and how quick that final whistle comes,” Garcia said. “They have taken it from there. Defensively, we’ve been more solid.”
Prairieville hasn’t lost since.
The Hurricanes, who had a scheduled match in December with East Ascension postponed because of weather, have put together a win streak that’s reached 11 matches with a recent 6-0 win over Lutcher on Dec. 30.
With Tilley in goal, Prairieville has recorded all eight shutouts this season during that span.
“All of the first five wins were all one-goal wins,” Garcia said. “We learned a lot how to figure out how to play. I think we’re battle-tested. Ideally, we want to stay home (for the playoffs) as much as we can throughout the year.”
Prairieville’s back line consists of two seniors, a sophomore, and a freshman in front of Tilley. The team’s center backs are senior Carl Roussel, a returning all-state player, and sophomore Joel Mackey, a freshman all-state choice a year ago, with senior right back Jace Golson and freshman left back Eduardo Epinoza.
“We have about six guys that can play anywhere,” Garcia said. “It helps us out if a guy’s maybe not on his best day, we can move him to a spot where he can still be successful. We move guys around quite a bit. They’re not locked into certain positions.”
Prairieville’s 4-4-2 alignment had produced 3.8 goals per match with senior striker Caleb Ickles leading the way with 12 goals and three assists.
“He puts his nose into anything,” Garcia said. “If you’re not scared to put your nose in there and handle the physicality and get your nose close to the ball, goals are going to come. That’s what Caleb does. He runs after everything. His motor goes on for days. It’s a lot of skill and a lot of hard work.”
Junior attacking midfielder Brandt Lawless – an imposing 6-foot-3, 200-pounder – has six goals and six assists and has been an asset to the team, where he takes the majority of the corner kicks.
“He puts it on a rope and where it needs to be,” Garcia said.
Senior midfielder Andrew Roussel – the twin brother of Carl – is part of the team’s balanced scoring with five goals and three assists. Sophomore forward Price DeBarros has seven goals, junior holding midfielder Khoen Tripode and Golson both have five goals, and sophomore forward Yelbin Alvarenga has contributed four goals.
“Everybody’s back,” Garcia said. “We start five seniors, two freshmen, and the rest are sophomores. The rest are young, and we’re young in spots. Even our seniors have started for one year. They’re doing a great job this year. We recently had to play our fourth-string goalkeeper because of illnesses. They’ve made the most of their moments and made most of them positive.”
Garcia points to a strong ‘spine’ as the foundation of the team.
“If you have a strong goalkeeper, center back, and center-mid forward, I think you can be good,” he said. “We had a strong spine last year, and they all came back this year. You can put a lot of pieces around that, and you’re going to be pretty successful. We’re really good up the middle, and kids have bought into the spots they needed to buy in. They’ve performed well this year. It’s been a fun year.”
The match with Dutchtown is far from Prairieville’s last non-district test until the start of district play Jan. 16 with Livonia at home. The Hurricanes host Tara in their season finale at 7 p.m. Jan. 28.
“We respect our opponents,” Garcia said. “Tara’s always in top 10-12 in their division, and I know they’re going to give us everything. Our big focus this year, district or not, is to get better every practice and every game moving forward, and hopefully it’s enough at the end.”
A true gauge of the program’s progress is also waiting when Prairieville hosts reigning Division I state champion St. Paul’s, the owner of 12 state crowns. The Wolves visit for a 1 p.m. kickoff on Jan. 17.
“What we get out of it, it may not be on the scoreboard, but it will be the confidence we gain,” Garcia said. “If we don’t have the success, how can we learn from that moving forward into the rest of the regular season and certainly into the playoffs? St. Paul, there’s nobody better to give you a lesson.
“They won’t be in ooh and ah of our new stadium like a lot of schools have been,” Garcia said. “They’re going to come and play, and we’ll have to be ready to handle that, absorb it, and give it back when we can. We have some competitive games coming up that will test us moving forward, and I’m excited to see how they handle it.”