GREENSBORO - It might have been inevitable that one of McCallie Jones' forward-flip inbound passes would find its way to the back of the net, from a purely numbers standpoint.

When one finally did, it gave the Charlotte Latin Hawks the momentum to go on and beat Durham Academy 3-2 for the N.C. Independent Schools Athletic Association 3-A girls soccer title held at Greensboro Day.

Durham Academy actually scored first, with about six minutes left in the first half. Junior defender Martha Glenn got a pass behind Latin goalie Kristin Horton with sophomore forward Mollie Pathman there to guide it in.

"All I needed was a little touch on it," said Pathman. "It was a race between me and the defender."

But Durham Academy suffered a blow when its top defender, Collin Burks, was given a red card near the end of the half.

Horton was given the penalty opportunity and her kick slapped the back, upper right area of the net, tying the score at 1-1.

The Cavaliers retook the lead early in the second half when Erin O'Connor made the most of a pass from eighth-grader Shannon Cleaver. In front of the goal, she dribbled past a few defenders, placing the ball into the net.

"It was a great pass," O'Connor said. "She saw the open space."

But it was only a matter of time until one of Jones' forward-flip passes would score for Latin.

The somersaulting Jones picked up the move after watching the flip-throw specialist Ashley Swinehart, of from the USL's W-League. Latin coach Lee Horton coaches the Charlotte Lady Eagles, and said Jones does the maneuver better than anybody he's ever seen do it -- man or woman.

"I learned how to do it on the trampoline when I was 12," said Jones, now 16.

"McCallie's is better," Horton said. "It's low and there's more power to it. The opposing teams don't want to kick it out of bounds."

But Durham Academy senior goalie Kesley Kearney fared well, not only against the special weapon but she also saved her team from several Latin scoring opportunities.

"A lot of it is just clearing it," Kearney said. "It's not always a pretty game."

Of Jones' flip-throws, Kearney said, "It's like a free kick."

And with about 26 minutes left in the game, one of Jones' flip-throws finally found net when sophomore forward McKay Kirkland headed one in to tie the score at 2-2.

Kirkland paid back the favor to Jones to score the winning goal 10 minutes later, placing a nice pass in front of the net for Jones to get past Kearney.

"It was a beautiful pass," Jones said. "I thought I wasn't going to get to it, but I did the splits and somehow got to it."