The St. Joseph Eagles scored two goals in a span of 12 seconds in the second half to break open their bi-district soccer match with Flower Mound Coram Deo on a soggy path to a 6-3 victory Saturday in the TAPPS Division III bi-district playoffs.

Tate Brightwell scored with 17:55 left when the Lions misplayed the ball, and it fell between two defenders. Brightwell punched it in for a 3-1 St. Joseph lead.

Just seconds later, Chad Peevey turned another Coram Deo mistake into a 4-1 lead. Peevey stole the ball on the Lions' end of the field and charged to the right side of the penalty area. From just outside of it, the Eagles' senior bent a shot into the upper right corner of the net.

"Right on the kickoff, they messed up and I tried to dribble through," Peevey said. "I saw the goalie was outside, and I just chipped it over."

The victory sends the Eagles (14-0-2) to regionals where they will meet Carrollton Prince of Peace at a site and time to be determined. Prince of Peace defeated Richardson Canyon Creek 10-1.

"We got it going a lot better in the second half than in the first," St. Joseph head coach Steven Esperon said. "A lot of it was the field. In the second half, we had the side of the field where it was a little harder to clear the ball, so it allowed us a few more opportunities. It also allowed a little more on the through ball since there was that puddle in dead center on the other side."

Puddles on the field, which had sustained 4 inches of rain, led to halting attacks and unpredictable bounces.

"We've played on it before," said Peevey, who left shortly after the game to play in St. Joseph's boys basketball game against Vanguard in Waco. "The whole season has been playing in the rain, so I think it was to our advantage playing on a muddy field."

The St. Joseph lead grew to 5-1 on Jaemin Shin's goal, but Coram Deo made a run.

Lion junior Dixie Kurrus, who provided the game's most dynamic plays of the first half, lifted a centering pass to Theo Kotyk, whose shot skipped off the hand of St. Joseph goalkeeper Zach Blaszak to cut the lead to 5-2.

Kurrus, whose speed and ball skills led to Coram Deo's first goal and kept the Lions in threatening position early, had fewer chances in the second half with St. Joseph controlling the ball on Coram Deo's half of the field.

That was a good thing for the Eagles, because when she had the ball, St. Joseph was left holding its breath. She earned a penalty kick with 4:54 left when she drove near the center of the goal, and she converted it to cut the Eagles' lead to 5-3.

That margin lasted only 19 seconds, however. Garrett Brightwell used a quick turn and drive from 20 yards out to score and eliminate St. Joseph's concerns of a Coram Deo comeback.

St. Joseph started slowly, but Peevey changed that with a long run after a steal. His initial shot was knocked away by Lions starting goalkeeper Wayne Nelson, who scrambled to try to cover the rebound. Peevey got to it first and, falling to his right, flicked the go-ahead goal in with his left foot as the two collided for a 2-1 Eagles lead.

Nelson, who had suffered a minor injury earlier, had to leave the game for backup Peter Kloss.

Coram Deo took a 1-0 lead less than a minute into the game. Kurrus' angling shot was knocked away by Blaszak but Ben Wigand knocked in the rebound.

Kurrus, who ran a 12.29-second 100 meters for UIL Class 3A Argyle last spring, might have been the fastest player on the field. She also might have had two more goals had Peevey not been around to stop her. He knocked away a Kurrus chip shot that seemed destined to reach the net, and also parried away a Kurrus bicycle kick attempt.

St. Joseph tied the game at 1 on a play set up by Shin's lead pass to Garrett Brightwell. Shin got the ball back, and his shot was deflected away into perfect position for Tate Brightwell, who came from right wing to score.