With a roster full of young players and a tough schedule, the preseason expectations for St. Aloysius were not very high.

The Lady Flashes have done everything they can, however, to raise them going forward.

Seventh-grader Nicole Hayward scored four goals Friday night, and eighth-grader Haylee Prescott added a goal and an assist as St. Al routed Philadelphia 6-2.

The victory improved St. Al’s record to 3-3 with two games and a tournament remaining before the holiday break.

“I think they’re finally getting confidence in themselves. They’ve been working hard in practice and it shows,” St. Al coach Suzie Channell said. “A lot of people said we’re a couple years away. When you have a seventh-grader scoring four goals, why can’t we compete now?”

The Lady Flashes dominated Friday’s game, yet had to show some tenacity as well.

After Hayward scored twice in the first 17 minutes to give St. Al a 2-0 lead, Philadelphia tied it up almost as quickly. Hadley Chalmers converted a turnover in the midfield area into a quick goal in the 20th minute, and Franzie Hormann knocked in a corner kick from Makayla Walker in the 26th minute to knot it at 2.

Those were the only two shots Philadelphia (0-2) put on goal in the game. Goal keeper Taytana Fox made nine saves for the Lady Tornadoes, but was besieged by 24 shots from St. Al.

“One of the things I stress is being first to the ball. If it’s going to hit and bounce off, we were there to get it,” Channell said. “We’re not afraid to shoot the ball. We work on that a lot.

Prescott broke the tie with a goal at the 34-minute mark and Hayward completed her hat trick in the closing moments of the first half to put St. Al ahead 4-2 at halftime.

Five minutes into the second half, Hayward scored her fourth goal — giving her nine for the season — off an assist from Madison Lumbley to make it 5-2.

Shelby Bottin scored St. Al’s final goal with five minutes left in the game, knocking in a pass in front of the net from Prescott.

Riley Griffith and Sara Townsend also had assists for St. Al, which will return to action Wednesday against St. Frederick’s, a Catholic school rival from Monroe.

“I definitely wouldn’t have had a chance without the passes,” Hayward said. “It’s a lot of working together as a team, but there is some kind of right connection to it.”

(B) WC 5, Ridgeland 1

Erik Chappell had three goals and an assist to lead Warren Central (6-0) past Ridgeland.

Marcus Renard had a goal and two assists, and Chandler Bounds added an assist for WC, which will play Oxford at 10:15 a.m. today and Madison-St. Joe at 3:15 at Shiloh Park in Brandon.

WC’s girls, who lost 3-0 to Gulfport on Friday night, will face Brandon at 9 a.m. and Tupelo at 11:30.