By Anthony McDougle
The Delta Democrat Times

GREENVILLE — If making a lasting impression was what the senior players on the Greenville-St. Joseph soccer team had in mind, mission accomplished.

Five of the team’s eight graduating players scored or assisted on goals against Porters Chapel Academy on Thursday night as the Fighting Irish rolled to a 7-0 victory.

Greenville-St. Joe improved to 3-8-1 this season but, more importantly, kept its playoff hopes alive with one district game remaining.

Porters Chapel (2-6) lost to St. Joe for the second time in a week, after dropping a 4-0 decision to the Irish last Friday in Vicksburg.

PCA will finish its season Monday at home against Indianola Academy. The game begins at 5:30 p.m.

“This was a great performance from the team,” Irish coach Craig Mandolini said. “The seniors all hustled and gave their all.”

It took St. Joe a little while to net its first goal, but Craig Gardiner found Lennon Oltremari and the 8th-grader put them on the board in the 12th minute. The floodgates opened soon after.

Two minutes later, Gardiner assisted on his second goal of the night, this time hooking up with Tyler Santucci. The Irish made it 3-0 in the 36th minute as Oltremari registered his second goal.

It wasn’t long after halftime before St. Joe was putting points on the board again. In the 45th minute Michael Mansour got in on the action with a goal to give his team a 4-0 lead.

After being fouled inside the penalty box, Lennon completed the hat trick with a penalty kick in the 61st minute.

“Lennon stepped up huge tonight and it was promising to see him attack the goal so well. He has a lot of potential and a lot of room to grow, but he showed he isn’t afraid to mix it in with the bigger and older players,” Mandolini said.

Five minutes after Oltremari scored his third goal, Corbin Stewart netted his first and Hughes closed out the scoring with a goal on an assist from Austin Perkins.

St. Joe goalie Britain Virden finished the game with two saves.

On a night where the performance from the veterans meant everything, the Irish were forced to play without one of their starting seniors, D.J. Washington. Washington is recovering from a sprained ankle, but Mandolini said he should be ready for the team’s next game.

They were able to buffer that loss with the return of another key senior player, Tres Santucci. Mandolini said that move made a big difference.

“He’s one of those leaders that helps drive the team in the right direction,” Mandolini said. “A sense of confidence was back with the team that was missing. Tres has been of the key leaders for a few years and it shows tonight.”