Jim Walker
jim.walker@irontontribune.com

The temperature was high but the St. Joseph Lady Flyers’ roster numbers were low.
Temperatures in the 80s took their toll on the 12-player St. Joseph roster in a season-opening 5-1 loss to the Waverly Lady Tigers on Thursday in a Southern Ohio Conference game.
The game was only 2-0 at the half but the effects of the warm temperatures began to show in the second half.
St. Joseph’s lone goal came from freshman Aubrey Sutton with an assist from Laiken Unger.
Waverly was able to register 26 shots on goal while the Lady Flyers’ offense could only generate four shot in the game.
Despite all of Waverly’s shots, Lady Flyers’ sophomore Bella Whaley turned in a stellar performance in her first game-ever as a goalkeeper. Whaley finished with 16 saves compared to three for Waverly.
The game was the first SOC contest for St. Joseph and it came against a Waverly team that was 17-4 last season and had a good tournament run.
“I’m very proud of all our girls for giving me 100 percent effort the entire game and holding their heads up high,” said Lady Flyers’ coach Dan Blair.
St. Joseph visits Portsmouth West at 5:30 p.m. on Monday in a league game.