HATTIESBURG – In an important region contest for both the Sacred Heart Lady Crusaders and Crusaders, underclassmen led both squads to big wins over St. Patrick Monday.
Gracie Falla, an eighth-grader, freshman Olivia Ware and junior Blair Viator helped lead the Lady ’Saders to a 4-1 win over the Lady Irish, then two freshmen, Miller Hayden and Seaton Hixson, and sophomore Bennett Gibson combined for four goals to beat St. Patrick 4-1 as well.
PHOTO GALLERY: Sacred Heart boys beat St. Patrick from Matt Bush
PHOTO GALLERY: Lady Crusaders' gallery from Matt Bush
“It is what it is,” boys’ coach Joe Falla Jr. said with a smile when asked about the underclassmen’s production. “We just put them out there and we play.”
Sacred Heart and St. Patrick have developed a rivalry on the pitch, and now with the two in the same region, it adds a little more pressure to the two matches every year. Goal differential could be used as a tiebreaker at the end of the season, so not only do these teams want to win for the rivalry, they need to take advantage of every goal scoring opportunity until the final whistle.
That’s what Gibson did in the 80th minute when the Crusaders were leading 3-1 and had victory in hand. He somehow got a shot off inside the box that trickled past the St. Patrick keeper to extend the lead to 4-1.
The two were playing evenly prior to the first goal of the game, but the Crusaders started to open things up more as the first half went on. The game’s first goal came in the 30th minute when sophomore Heath Flathau sent a perfect ball into the box from the right side, and Hixson finished perfectly to give Sacred Heart an early 1-0 lead.
“Everybody knows their role, and I got with Heath before the game and said, ‘I’ve changed some things up with the formation change, and I just need you to run it. Just captain the ship and get after it.”’ Falla recounted.
Just a couple of minutes later, Hayden moved through the Irish defense with ease and his shot snuck underneath the goalkeeper to give Sacred Heart a 2-0 lead entering halftime.
Sacred Heart outshot St. Patrick 7-2 and 4-0 with shots on goal in the first half, but the Fighting Irish battled back in the second half, taking significantly more shots on goal than in the first 40 minutes.
In the 53rd minute, St. Patrick’s Chris Collins cut the Sacred Heart lead to 2-1 after finding a through ball in the box that looked like it was intended for another teammate. The ball sailed over the first St. Patrick attacker, but Collins was there to put the ball in the back of the net.
Sacred Heart answered quickly, though, with another goal by Hayden. A few minutes prior to Miller’s second goal, he and a St. Patrick defender got into a shoveling match that was broken up by the head referee. Miller composed himself in the 61st minute and put the St. Patrick defense on ice skates for the second night in the game.
“He gets a little chippy simply because he gets fouled relentlessly,” Falla said. “It’s constant cleats on his calves, ankles and toes, but he’s a player.”
In the girls’ contest, St. Patrick opted to put a strong emphasis on defense in the early going, putting as many players on the defensive side of the field as possible. The Lady ’Saders had plenty of scoring opportunities, but they couldn’t find an open shot inside the crowded box.
Finally, Sacred Heart broke through with a goal off Viator’s head from a corner kick.
“Gabby (Falla) jumped up and it missed her,” Viator said. “I just jumped up and headed it to the ground, and it bounced in.”
Once Sacred Heart saw the first goal go in, the scoring barrage began.
In the span of eight minutes, Sacred Heart pushed the lead to 3-0 to firmly grab control of the game. Falla scored her two goals immediately following Viator’s. Her first was a rocket from 10 yards out, then she finished her second goal with her left foot from 20 yards.
“I just ripped it in there,” Falla said of her first goal. “What’s funny is, this past year I’ve been scoring all of my goals off my left foot. Even in Select, all by my left. I don’t know why.”
Ware extended the lead to 4-0 in the 44th minute, then St. Patrick’s Savannah Croal scored in the 60th minute to bring the game to its final.
The Sacred Heart girls (3-3-2, 2-0 in Region 7) will hit the pitch again Thursday with a home game against Our Lady Academy, while the boys (5-4-1, 2-0) will wait until Monday to play Perry Central.
