Riley Griffith’s shot arced high through the night, over the outstretched arms of the goal keeper and into the net. Even as she and her teammates celebrated, the goal was cruelly snatched away — the ball landed on top of the net, not in it — and so were St. Aloysius’ dreams of a state championship, at least for now.

Joanna Bellan assisted on a goal in the first half, then scored three of her own in a six-minute span of the second to lead Madison-St. Joseph to a 5-0 victory over St. Al in the girls Class 1A-2A-3A semifinals Wednesday night.

St. Joe beat St. Al in the North State championship game for the second consecutive season and advanced to play Our Lady Academy in the state title game Friday afternoon at Clinton High School. It’s the 14th time in as many meetings that St. Joe has beaten the Lady Flashes since St. Al’s girls program was started in 2003.

“Tonight they were better,” St. Al coach Suzie Channell said. “We played hard. The girls didn’t give up and fought all the way to the end. It was a great season.”

The first great season of, hopefully, many for this group of Lady Flashes. Griffith is one of only two juniors on the roster and there are no seniors. St. Al posted an 11-10-1 record that included a pair of playoff victories.

“I think it’s positive for several years to come,” Channell said.

Despite the bright future, things turned bleak in a hurry for St. Al on Wednesday.

St. Joe peppered keeper Alexa Baldizon with five shots on goal in the first 10 minutes of the game. One resulted in a goal by Maddie Best, who knocked in a cross from Bellan. Another was a header by Catherine Scott that hit the underside of the crossbar and bounced out.

“I told the girls that if you can control the first 10 minutes you can control the game,” St. Joe coach Brad Biard said. “I was glad one did fall, because St. Al never quit. If they could’ve scored and gotten up, it could’ve been a different ballgame.”

Griffith did seem to score late in the first half, but it was just a cruel optical illusion. Moments after Scott scored to put St. Joe ahead 2-0, Griffith lofted a high shot from 35 yards away that appeared to drop in behind keeper Jenny Coffey.

The ball actually hit the top of the crossbar, though, and became entangled in the net as it fell to the ground. St. Al’s players celebrated briefly, but play continued.

Bellan scored the first of her three goals in the 53rd minute to make it 3-0, then quickly added two more to put the game away.

“It could’ve been a huge momentum shift. If that ball would’ve fallen, it would’ve changed everything,” Biard said of Griffith’s shot.