RIDGELAND – Sacred Heart coach Joe Falla used one word when asked what his team was missing in Saturday’s 4-2 State Championship loss to St. Joseph – effort. In the Boys’ 1A/2A/3A State Championship, the Bruins scored two first-half goals, then added two more in the second to keep Sacred Heart at-bay and claim the title.
“It’s called effort. That’s what I told them,” Falla said. “You can’t show up on a big stage like that and clam up and freeze up. This game today was all about effort. (St. Joe) wanted it more than we did. We were looking for somebody to rescue us. Not today. Effort is about you and you only.
“I think it had something to do with big lights, big stage and how young we were.”
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The Bruins scored the game’s first goal in the eighth minute when senior Reed Collins fought off a Sacred Heart defender to get in position for a cross. Sophomore Aiden Lipovetsky was there to finish it to give St. Joe a 1-0 lead.
Sacred Heart found an equalizer seven minutes later off the foot of freshman Miller Hayden. After pushing past would-be St. Joe defenders, he shot across the goal, from left to right, and found the back of the net.
Hayden is one of the key players returning for the Crusaders next season. In fact, Sacred Heart won’t lose a player on its roster.
“We’ll be back, I promise you,” Falla said. “We’ll be back and I promise you we’ll come with a better effort and a little better attitude.”
Collins added his first goal in the 29th minute, then senior Rodney Self scored in the 45th minute in the second half to push the Bruins ahead 3-1. After Sacred Heart’s Peyton Ware cut the St. Joe lead to 3-2 in the 74th minute, Collins scored his second netter of the match in the 78th minute to put the game out of reach.
“We didn’t battle, to sum it up,” Falla said. “Effort comes in with battle. You have to battle. The ref let it play, and you have to go in there and not be afraid to get bloody. It’s as simple as that. We learned a lesson today. If we didn’t, we missed a good chance, no doubt.”
