This was a season six years in the making for St. Aloysius.

That was how long the Lady Flashes had waited to make the playoffs. How long its players had worked to get there. Once everything fell into place, it zipped by in the blink of an eye.

The Lady Flashes not only reached the postseason for the first time, they went all the way to the Class 1A-2A-3A semifinals. Their 8-3-1 record was the best in the program’s seven-year history. And their coach, Keiko Booth, is now rewarded with The Vicksburg Post’s soccer coach of the year award.

“It was a matter of the leadership of our seniors,” Booth said, deflecting credit to her players. “They had in mind a goal that they wanted and did what they had to do to get it done.”

Booth spent the 2008-09 season as an assistant coach, but turned into a defacto head coach. Will Vollor had been hired to coach both the girls and boys teams, but turned over most of the duties for the girls team to Booth.

Booth was officially named girls’ head coach last summer and said she immediately saw promise in the team. Nine seniors, many of whom had been starters since they were in seventh or eighth grade, gave her plenty to work with.

“I knew it going into the year. This group of seniors had been together six years and the younger ones stepped up their game.”

With only three other teams in the division, St. Al didn’t wrap up a playoff spot until beating Greenville-St. Joe in the season finale on Jan. 22. They then beat Corinth in the first round, 2-0, and crushed Winona 8-0 in the second.

The run ended with a 2-0 loss to division rival Madison-St. Joe in the South State championship game. All three of St. Al’s losses came against the Lady Bruins, by a total of four goals.

“It had a lot to do with the preconditioning program. Once they started playing, they fell into a groove and stayed there,” Booth said.

Now Booth will get a true test of her coaching skill. The nine seniors that anchored this season’s team are gone, and only six players will return next season. Booth said this season’s success will bring out enough players to flesh out the roster. And although next season will certainly be a rebuilding process, there’s enough talent left to ensure it won’t be another six years before the Lady Flashes return to the playoffs.

“Our defense is what we’ll really have to rebuild. Most of our offense is set,” Booth said. “Most of the kids that are coming up are defensive players, so that’ll help.”

Contact Ernest Bowker at ebowker@vicksburgpost.com