After the St. Aloysius Flashes walked off the field battered and bruised with a 1-0 overtime win over Greenville-St. Joseph on Monday night, soccer coach Scott Mathis announced to six of his players that they’d received MAIS distinctions.

Casey Griffith and Lofton Varner were selected as MAIS soccer all-stars, while Justin Goodwin, Gradon Bourne, Jack Dowe and Connor Bottin were selected as All-District 1-AAA players.

Mathis — who will also coach the all-star game — feels great about his six players and their honors. After winning the district, Mathis was able to choose four players for all-district, who were then voted on by other district coaches.

Mathis said he could’ve made a case for another all-star to join Griffith and Varner, but wanted to give it up to someone from another school.

“There were boys that I knew that played for other schools that weren’t very good, the schools weren’t, but the boys were, they deserved to be there,” Mathis said. “If I could give up one of my spots for somebody who’s a really good soccer player, that’s what we do as coaches.”

The all-star coaches will meet later this week to draft their teams from the pool of players selected for the game. The all-star game will be played on March 4.

All the boys are excited for their selections and don’t take their accolades for granted.

For Griffith, having five teammates other than himself receive distinctions is a sign of how balanced the team is.

“It means we’re pretty solid all around, we have guys on defense and offense over here,” Griffith said.

Varner looks forward to playing in the all-star game with the best people in his district.

Bottin leads the team with 21 goals and Bourne is second with 15 goals and 10 assists.

Varner scored eight goals, including the game-winning header against Greenville-St. Joseph on Monday. Griffith has scored seven goals this season.

Dowe and Goodwin round out the distinguished players, with a combined five made goals this season.

“I scored two goals and I’ve had quite a few assists, I think six or seven to different people,” Goodwin said.

The smaller size of the MAIS has been a benefit for the players as the schools are smaller and Griffith said the players aren’t as fast as opponents they’ve played in the MHSAA.

Aside from their all-star and all-district selections, the players are glad to win district games and head to the playoffs, where they will have home field advantage. St. Al will host Park Place in its regular season finale today, and then open the Division III playoffs next Monday against the second-place team from District 2.

Bottin is especially confident his team will win a championship. He used the contemporary words of hip hop artist Drake to describe his appreciation for his fellow teammates and plans to finish out the season.

“I got a really big team and they need some really big rings,” Bottin said.