Senior Mia Owens scored Barbe only goal in an 8-1 loss to St. Joseph Academy Tuesday in the Division I quarterfinals (American Press Archives)

By William Weathers

Special to the American Press

St. Joseph Academy’s soccer team is headed back to the Division I state semifinal for the second consecutive year.

Judging by Tuesday’s business-like postgame response it’s clear the Redstickers have bigger things in mind.

“Getting back there was absolutely the goal but the goal’s bigger than that,” SJA soccer coach Kyle Carmouche said. “The goal is to get to the final and see if we can win a title.”

Second-seeded St. Joseph Academy’s reached the semifinals in rather comfortable fashion, getting a hat trick from Isabella Lalonde and a brace and two assists from Mary Melancon in a 8-1 regional victory over seventh-seeded Barbe at BREC’s Burbank Soccer Complex.

The Redstickers (19-1-3) host the winner of Wednesday’s Northshore-St. Scholastica match that is tentatively scheduled for Saturday.

Barbe (20-5-4), which won its first district title since 2007, provided its only offensive answer after SJA’s Grace Ann Crifasi assisted Mary Bennett Marchand on a goal seven minutes into the match.

Lady Bucs striker Mia Owens gained separation from her defender on a ball that was crossed into the 6-yard box and scored a minute after Marchand’s goal.

SJA’s Greenley Duplantis had one save against Barbe which only had two shots, both in the first half.

“I was pleased by the response, but they just have a lot of talent,” Barbe coach Todd Hoffpauir said. “We did right after they scored but good teams take advantage of the mistakes you make and put them in the back of the net.”

SJA unleashed an offensive onslaught that resulted in a 4-1 halftime lead, including the go-ahead goal in the 11^th minute when Melancon assisted Madison Hitzman’s ground shot into the left corner.

Lalonde beat her defender and fired a shot from just outside the 18 for a goal in the 18^th minute and five minutes later on Lalonde ran onto a long ball and beat goalkeeper Abbie Craven to the left corner.

Craven finished with nine of her 13 saves in the first half.

SJA, which had 26 of 32 shots on goal, maintained its scoring frenzy and reached at least eight goals in a match for the sixth time this season.

Melancon caught up to a long ball and scored in the 44^th minute, Marchand fed Gracie Davis for a shot from 6-yard box in the 48^thminute with remaining goals coming from Melancon on another long ball in the 50^th minute before she found Lalonde in the 6-yard box for her hat trick with 10 minutes to play.

“We have been very well spread out with our offense and that’s by design,” Carmouche said. “We try to attack from all over and the numbers have supported that this year.”