There was a big hole in the right side of the St. Albert defense and Thomas Jefferson coach Mark Royer saw it immediately.

"We had an advantage in speed on that side of the field," said Royer. "The girls saw it as fast as I did and they took advantage."

Shilo Stockton raced unchecked behind the St. Albert defense and scored the game winner with just three minutes to go in the Lady Jackets' 2-1 soccer win at the C.B. Stadium Soccer Complex Wednesday.

Stockton took a quick throw-in pass from Jennifer Swotek before scoring from point-blank range.

"We got the match-up we wanted," said Royer. "The breaks went our way today and we pulled out the win."

The Jackets' late goal ended a wild affair that saw two shots hit the crossbar, several amazing saves by both teams' goalkeepers and a disallowed goal that would have given the Saintes their first lead.

"For a second we thought we were ahead," said Saintes coach Randy Salyers. "That was a big swing in momentum."

Jill Kammrad scored the first goal of the game with only 18 seconds remaining in the first half to give T.J. the first lead.

Kammrad chipped in a nearly perfect lob from 22 yards out, capping a first half that saw the Jackets almost exclusively on attack.

"We must lead the state in shooting too high," said Royer. "The chances were there, we just didn't execute."

Becca Meade's 20-yard volley left T.J. keeper Jenny Shadden helpless after it deflected off a defender and headed the direction from which Shadden had just come.

St. Albert nearly scored again but Mollie Collins found crossbar instead of net and Gina Assmann forced Shadden to make several saves.

Collins found herself alone on goal again, but Shadden won the race to the ball and the ensuing collision sent Collins to the bench with a yellow card.

"That really takes away a lot of our options," said Salyers. "We played a nice second half and just came up a little short."

Overtime was looming large and both teams were visibly tired when Stockton struck for the winner.

"We were tired and they were tired," said Royer. "These are the type of games that we have to win and we found a way to do it."

Both teams move to 1-2 on the season.

Thomas Jefferson 1 1 - 2

St. Albert 0 1 - 1

Records: Thomas Jefferson (1-2), St. Albert (1-2)

Ratings: State: Thomas Jefferson (8th).

Matt Preito - Daily Nonpareil - 04.13.06