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St. Aloysius' Sam Ashley (15) takes a shot on goal as Oak Forest Academy's Nathaniel Price (20) and keeper Ryan Triolo defend during Saturday's game. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

St. Aloysius soccer players congratulate Jaden Wheeldon (00) after he scored a goal Saturday against Oak Forest. It was one of five goals the Flashes scored in the second half in their 6-1 victory. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

St. Aloysius' Corbin Burroughs kicks the ball during Saturday's game against Oak Forest Academy. St. Al won, 6-1. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Oak Forest Academy's Gavin McKneely (55) and St. Aloysius' Corbin Burroughs battle for the ball during Saturday's game. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

St. Aloysius' Carter Smithhart (5) takes a corner kick during Saturday's game against Oak Forest Academy. St. Al won, 6-1. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

St. Aloysius soccer players Luke Pierce (25), JR McCain (9) and Corbin Burroughs (4) celebrate after McCain scored a goal Saturday against Oak Forest. It was one of five goals the Flashes scored in the second half in their 6-1 victory. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

The St. Aloysius Flashes got better and better as their day went along Saturday.

Just imagine what they could’ve done playing a full game.

St. Al tied Manchester Academy 1-1, then erupted for five goals in the second half to beat Oak Forest Academy 6-1 in its second game of the day at its home boys’ soccer tournament Saturday at Key City Park.

Both games were reduced from their normal length to 30-minute halves to allow teams to play twice.

“We started off, I don’t know if it was the turf or what, our touch was terrible. Every time we trapped the ball it’d be five feet from us instead of right at our feet,” St. Al coach Jay Madison said. “We got progressively better and better, and by the end it was fine. It was what we needed to do to knock the rust off coming back from the holidays.”

Oak Forest’s Kamren Moya scored early in the game, then Holden Davidson got the equalizer for St. Al just seconds before the first half ended. After that, the Flashes dominated the second half.

John Ellis Montgomery, who assisted Davidson’s goal, deflected a corner kick into the net to put the Flashes ahead 2-1 in the 43rd minute.

In the 50th minute, JR McCain took a pass from Corbin Burroughs in the middle of the box and beat the keeper for a 3-1 lead and truly start the avalanche. McCain’s goal was the first of four in the final 10 minutes.

Jaden Wheeldon, Dalton Windham and Clay Pierce all tallied goals down the stretch. Windham also had three assists, and Wheeldon had the Flashes’ goal in the earlier game against Manchester.

“It took a while for us to get there today. The first game today we only scored one goal, and then the first half of this game we only scored one goal,” Madison said. “The better stuff happens when it’s unselfish, trying to play the ball, and not trying to do too much. Play, trap, move. When we start doing that it looks pretty good.”

Going 1-0-1 on Saturday, along with a 6-3 win earlier in the week against Adams County Christian School, served as a good warm-up for an important stretch of the schedule.

St. Al will go on the road Thursday, Jan. 16, to play Bayou Academy in an MAIS Division II West game. Another district game at home vs. Pillow Academy follows on Jan. 20.

“It’s (Bayou) an important game because it’s a road game,” Madison said. “We didn’t get the one at Pillow. If we can go up to Bayou that puts us ahead, and then they have to come to us.”

About Ernest Bowker

Ernest Bowker is The Vicksburg Post's sports editor. He has been a member of The Vicksburg Post's sports staff since 1998, making him one of the longest-tenured reporters in the paper's 140-year history. The New Jersey native is a graduate of LSU. In his career, he has won more than 50 awards from the Mississippi Press Association and Associated Press for his coverage of local sports in Vicksburg.

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