St. Al’s Brayden Banks and his Flashes teammates put a serious scare into six-time defending Class 3A/2A/1A state champion Madison-St. Joe.

The Flashes took a shocking 2-0 lead on the Bruins, getting a wonderful boot on a direct kick by Banks and a throw-in that deflected off a Bruin in the goalbox for another in the seventh minute.

The Bruins rallied, as Blayne Jones headed in the first goal and Zahir Bracey converted the second off a beautifully placed corner kick.

But the Flashes still had life. Forrest Logue weaved around a nest of defenders and gave St. Al the lead, 3-2, with a nice dead-center shot.

But from that point, it was all Madison-St. Joe. The Bruins tied the contest with a penalty kick by Alex Cosmich in the final two minutes of the first half.

Matthew Gieb and Bracey converted rebounds into goals, while Josh Speyerer finished with a nice shot from 10 yards out in traffic to complete the scoring for St. Joe (6-8-3, 4-0).

Assistant coach Greg Banks subbed for coach Jason Hopkins, who was out sick, and he was impressed with the effort against one of the state’s premier soccer powerhouses. Considering St. Al’s struggles this season with a 1-11-2 record, the loss might be just the confidence boost the young Flashes need.

“We definitely put a scare into them,” Banks said. “Even with a three-goal lead, you could tell they were still nervous.”