St. Al advances to first state soccer championship game

Published 10:29 am Friday, October 9, 2015

For once, goals were a little hard to come by for St. Aloysius. When they finally did come, they came in a flood that swept the Lady Flashes right to the brink of a state championship.

St. Al scored three goals in the last 10 minutes of the first half Thursday, and went on to beat Starkville Academy 3-1 in the MAIS Division III girls soccer semifinals.

The win sends St. Al to the championship game against Hartfield Academy Monday afternoon at Balzli Field.

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The time has yet to be determined. Hartfield beat Park Place Christian 3-0 in the other semifinal on Thursday.

It’s the first time in the 12-year history of the girls’ soccer program that St. Al (13-0) will play for a state title.

St. Al spent 11 years in the Mississippi High School Activities Association and reached the Class 1A-2A-3A semifinals twice. In its first year in the Mississippi Association of Independent Schools, it’ll not only play for the championship but do so on its home field as a heavy favorite.

“This is the first time we as a team have gotten this far,” St. Al senior defender Shelby Bottin said. “It’s the farthest I think St. Al has ever gotten, so we hope we do good in state and get a win.”

The three goals Thursday were a season-low for St. Al, but it was partially by design. Coach Scott Mathis opted for a more conservative defensive approach to limit Starkville’s chances, and it worked.

The Lady Vols outshot St. Al 9-7 in the game, but their only goal came off the foot of Marris Moorehead two minutes into the second half. St. Al goal keeper Cass Hudson made seven saves.

“I told them (at halftime), everybody is defensive-minded from here on out,” St. Al coach Scott Mathis said. “We let a few through, and they scored, but that’s going to happen.”

St. Al, meanwhile, made the most of its opportunities.

Madelyn Polk scored in the 30th minute to break a scoreless tie, then Sara McDaniel collected a corner kick from Polk four minutes later and booted it past the keeper for a 2-0 lead. In the 40th minute, McDaniel struck again by arcing a long 20-yard shot into the top right corner of the net to give the Lady Flashes a 3-0 lead.

It was the same type of flurry St. Al has used all season long to bury opponents, and it came at the perfect time.

“We only had two offensive players this time. I left everybody else staggered. Just doing our homework, I knew that’s what would disrupt their play, and it worked,” Mathis said. “Then I had the two forwards just switch. Once they made that switch, there’s a weaker side and that’s when we got the first goal. That’s all it takes for us.”

Starkville (11-3-2) came out gunning to start the second half. Moorehead’s goal cut into its deficit, and a few tense moments followed as the Lady Vols kept up the pressure and put two more shots on goal.

The Lady Flashes weathered the storm, though, and had at least returned to the defensive stalemate that marked the first half by the 55th minute. Starkville had another brief flurry around the 75 minute, but Hudson made a save on a point-blank shot by Shelton Spivey and St. Al was able to keep things in check the rest of the way.

“We got a little flustered at the beginning because they came out with a bang,” Bottin said. “We just had to calm down and we played our game and we won.”

About Ernest Bowker

Ernest Bowker is The Vicksburg Post's sports editor. He has been a member of The Vicksburg Post's sports staff since 1998, making him one of the longest-tenured reporters in the paper's 140-year history. The New Jersey native is a graduate of LSU. In his career, he has won more than 50 awards from the Mississippi Press Association and Associated Press for his coverage of local sports in Vicksburg.

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