Jim Walker
jim.walker@irontontribune.com

When you go fast, you usually pass someone. When the St. Joseph Lady Flyers go fast, they always seem to pass to each other.
The Lady Flyers used a strong passing game to beat the West Union Lady Dragons 7-1 on Thursday to capture the Division 3 sectional soccer championship.
“The girls passed the ball well tonight with is always key to a great game,” said Lady Flyers’ coach Dan Blair.
Emma Whaley scored three goals as her hat-trick led the Lady Flyers. Lydia Sheridan had a haul as she scored two more goals while Laiken Unger and Addie Philabaun got one goal each.
Unger also found her teammates for two assists while Aubrey Sutton, Whaley and Sheridan had one assists each.
Goalkeeper Riley Daniels had one save as the Lady Flyers limited West Union to just two shots on goal. St. Joseph had 17 shots on goal.
Molly Fuller had the lone West Union goal on an unassisted shot with 11:46 to play.
The tandem of Sutton and Unger got the Lady Flyers going less than 11 minutes into the game as Unger hit a shot from 18 yards out off used a cross over pass to set up the score.
Whaley used an assist from Sheridan to make it 2-0 with 19:36 on the clock and then Whaley scored off a corner kick by Unger about a minute later and it was 3-0.
The lead grew to 4-0 when Sheridan scored an unassisted goal with 14:03 left as her shot deflected off the cross bar.
The Lady Flyers weren’t finished yet as they made it 5-0 in the first half on a goal by Whaley off a through ball from Unger.
St. Joseph pushed the lead to 7-0 in the second half as Sheridan drilled a ball off the cross bar and into the net while Whaley hit a cross over shot as Philabaun made a nice pass from the back of the post.
St. Joseph will now visit North Adams at 5 p.m. on Tuesday in the district semifinals against the Green Devils.
West Union 0 1 = 1
St. Joseph 5 2 = 7
First Half
SJ – Laiken Unger (assist Aubrey Sutton) 29:57
SJ – Emma Whaley (assist Lydia Sheridan) 19:36
SJ – Emmas Whaley (assist Laiken Unger) 18:30
SJ – Lydia Sheridan (unassisted) 14:03
SJ – Emma Whaley (assist Laiken Unger) 3:00
Second Half
SJ – Lydia Sheridan (unassisted) 34:00
SJ – Emma Whaley (assist Addie Philabaun) 31:10
WU – Molly Fuller (unassisted) 11:46
Saves – WU: 8; SJ: Riley Daniels 1
Shots on Goal – WU: 2; SJ: 17