BROOKHAVEN — St. Aloysius had a tough Thursday night on the road at Brookhaven Academy. The Cougars won 7-0 to continue a hot streak to start the season. 

Jesus Antonio scored two goals for the Cougars as did Yojan Hernandez. Englishman Noah Fisher-Butler had several assists on the night. 

Striker Cooper Strickland secured a hat-trick for Brookhaven Academy with two goals in the first half and one in the second half. He said the match went better for him than their match against Lamar Christian School. 

“It felt great to score a hat-trick. Last year, this was a tough team we had to beat to get to the south state round,” Strickland said. “Their twin defenders are gone and they gave me a lot of trouble last year. I felt this would be a good game for me and it turned out well.” 

St. Aloysius could do little to slow the tempo and fluidity of Brookhaven Academy’s attack. St. Al Head Coach Jay Madison gave no comment after the game. 

While the Flashes created a few scoring opportunities, BA goalkeeper Ben Watts maintained a clean sheet. Brookhaven Academy have conceded three goals in five victories to open the season. 

Flashes fans were frustrated with a few decisions that didn’t go their way. St. Al lost a corner kick opportunity when the referees called offsides on a dangerous free kick.

Brookhaven Academy was awarded a penalty toward the end of the first half and Flashes fans felt there was no foul. BA scored a goal off of a free kick that was won by Yojan Hernandez drawing criticism from fans complaining he was flopping. 

Even without the controversial calls, BA was up 3-0 midway through the first half and continued to create golden scoring opportunities. The Cougars have scored 39 goals so far this season. 

“Compared to last year, we have more teamwork and talking. We had a good team last year but this one is different,” Strickland said. “We have multiple guys scoring. We spend a lot of time together. We have new people, we had to introduce them and it just clicked. They all clicked in like puzzle pieces.” 

BA Head Coach Alex Brown said his team was in control for much of the game and he was “happy with the performance.”. The Cougars kept a high standard of play and were good in possession. St. Al played a high defensive line which allowed the Cougars to get through balls behind defenders to create chances. 

Brookhaven Academy is not looking to settle for good soccer. They are striving for better this season. 

“Coach Alex said we are still working out on Friday. He says you have to train like a champion to be a champion and champions never settle.”