[01/30/02]This week’s weather has been downright tropical for January, but Cleveland found itself in the middle of a blizzard Tuesday night in the opening round of the Class 1A-2A-3A playoffs against St. Aloysius.

The Flashes scored five goals in the first 17 1/2 minutes, then cleared the bench in the second half and coasted into the second round with an 11-0 rout.

St. Al will travel to face Amory on Saturday, with a trip to the North State title game on the line. The time of the game was to be determined today.

“It’s a sweet win. The first game of the playoffs always gives a boost to your team. We’re working toward that second goal we had at the beginning of the year,” St. Al coach Shirley Agostinelli said.

John Theobald had four goals and two assists for St. Al, Michael Head added three goals, Joe Theobald had two goals and an assist and Michael Strickland had a goal and an assist.

Bern Ebersole also scored a goal and Patrick Sadler and Beau Theobald each had an assist for St. Al (14-2), which outshot the Wildcats 20-1 in the first half and scored on all five of its second-half shots.

“I think everybody kept trying. Everybody wanted to score, and we were just going to score as many as we can, as long as it took,” John Theobald said.

Joe Theobald started the scoring with a grounder past Cleveland keeper Wesley Radicioni just 3 1/2 minutes into the game. Joe Theobald then assisted Head with a goal three minutes later, and John Theobald dribbled around the Cleveland defense before launching a rocket into the top left corner for his first goal and a 3-0 lead at the 12-minute mark.

John Theobald added another goal three minutes later on a shot that seemed to be screened from Radiciono’s view by his defense, and Head finished the flurry about 21/2 minutes after that by muscling aside a defender and blasting a shot over Radicioni to make it 5-0.

Head scored on an assist from John Theobald with just under seven minutes to play in the first half to complete his hat trick and give the Flashes a 6-0 halftime lead.

“I think it was evident by then what the final result would be. It was just by how much,” said Cleveland (10-8) coach Steve Wies, who also praised the Flashes’ efficiency. “The runs they made were extremely efficient … It was a pleasure to watch.”

Agostinelli cleared the bench in the second half, leaving only a few starters in to play defense, but the goals kept coming.

Strickland made it 7-0 with a goal less than two minutes into the half, Joe Theobald headed in a throw-in from Strickland eight minutes later, and John Theobald tallied two more scores in a two-minute span to make it 10-0 before leaving midway through the second half.

Even the junior varsity got into the act, getting several shots on goal and Ebersole’s score with five minutes to play.

“I hated to see a lopsided score like that, but everybody was scoring,” said Agostinelli, who apologized to Wies for the final score after the game. “Our skills shone tonight.”