The chances hung listlessly in the frigid air for St. Aloysius to simply cash in upon. Corner kicks aplenty. Shots on goal by the bushel.

But the Flashes could take advantage of none of them in a 3-2 loss to Greenville-St. Joe on Senior Night.

“They won a few more balls than we did,” St. Al coach Will Vollor said. “That’s what it came down to in a 3-2 game.”

At one point in the first half, the Flashes had five consecutive corner kicks. But every time, the Irish defense rose to the challenge and good shots kept missing by a fraction. One was headed tantalizingly close, yet was knocked away by a St. Joe defender at the last second. Another flew over the crossbar.

Still another shot snuck to the outside of the post.

It was pure frustration.

What was even more frustrating for the Flashes (5-8-2) was how the match started. St. Joe scored a pair of quick goals just 12 minutes into the contest barely five minutes apart and the Flashes spent the rest of the time playing catch-up.

“It took us a second to wake up and you know what, that did make the difference in the game,” Vollor said. “Those two goals at the beginning really hurt us. It took us a second to wake up, cold night, guess that happens.”

Tyler Kirksey booted in the first St. Joe goal after isolating himself one-on-one with St. Al’s goalkeeper in front of the box.

The next, by Kmeone Kingdom, seemed to get the Flashes into gear. Adam Thornton found Richard Cowart, who settled the ball and launched a nice one straightaway to halve the deficit.

A few minutes later, Clay Huddleston eluded the Irish defense and took advantage of his one-on-one matchup with St. Joe’s goalie. Huddleston’s shot rang true in the back of the net, but he was leveled by the goalie at the instant he released the ball. His sacrifice tied the contest at 2.

“Clay has really come on for us this season,” Vollor said. “We didn’t have him last season. He’s really gotten better and become a difference maker for us. We’re really a stronger team with the additions like him and Zack Fillion in the back. Both of those two guys have really strengthened our team.”

In the second half, neither team seemed to be able to mount any serious shot attempts early until halfway through the second half. Kingdom was in a crowd in front of the St. Al box and managed to sneak one in for the winning score.

The Flashes had some more opportunities, but again, the shots just wouldn’t find the back of the net.

St. Al girls defeat Greenville-St. Joe, 2-1

Kortney Osborne scored one goal and Riley Griffith added another as the Lady Flashes won on Senior Night.

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Contact Steve Wilson at swilson@vicksburgpost.com