Caked in mud and sopping wet on a rainy, 40-degree night, the St. Aloysius Lady Flashes couldn’t help but add to their misery after their game Thursday night.

In the joyous aftermath of their biggest victory of the season, their second freezing mudbath was well-earned.

Riley Griffith scored two goals, including the game-winner on a penalty kick in overtime, as St. Al clinched a playoff berth by beating Greenville-St. Joe 2-1.

It’s the second straight year the Lady Flashes (8-10-1, 2-2 Division 7-1A-2A-3A) will play in the postseason. They’ll open the Class 1A-2A-3A playoffs on the road at Philadelphia Tuesday at 6 p.m.

“It feels great. It’s hard work, but it’s rewarding,” Griffith said.

Her coach, Suzie Channell, was even more succinct.

“It’s awesome,” Channell said, a wide smile breaking across her shivering face.

Coming into the game, St. Al had the upper hand in the pursuit of the second playoff berth in Division 7-1A-2A-3A. Its 1-0 victory over the Lady Irish on Jan. 4 meant St. Joe needed to win by two goals on Thursday to win a tiebreaker and advance.

Once the rain started to fall about an hour before kickoff and the field turned into a mudpit, its task grew even taller. The game couldn’t be rescheduled, either, because of a school function tonight and the MHSAA’s deadline for completing games.

“In these field conditions, it’s tough. We’re a fast team and it neutralized that,” St. Joe coach Wade Chambers said. “We had six seniors on our team. That’s mainly why it’s tough. They were a group that hadn’t gone to the playoffs, and a lot of them had been here since seventh and eighth grade.”

St. Joe (4-8, 0-4) hung tough for a long time. The game was scoreless until Griffith scored on a 20-yard free kick in the 25th minute of the second half. St. Joe then turned on the pressure and peppered St. Al keeper Alexa Baldizon down the stretch, finally breaking through on Josie James’ goal with six minutes to play.

That sent the game to overtime, where Griffith again played the hero. Catherine Smith was fouled in the box on a corner kick with three minutes left in the first 10-minute overtime period, and Griffith took the penalty kick.

The junior sent a shot low to the left side, past the keeper and into the net to give St. Al a 2-1 lead.

“It was a lot of pressure, but I knew that was our chance,” Griffith said.

St. Joe had five shots combined in the two overtime periods, but Baldizon was up to the task. She made 10 saves in the game and withstood a steady stream of pressure when it mattered most to seal the victory.

Afterward, the Lady Flashes celebrated by sliding through one of the mud puddles that stretched nearly 20 yards in the middle of the field. Griffith said at that point, the misery of being cold and wet was far from their minds.

“It was past the point of concern then,” she said with a laugh.