Boys 1A-3A Semifinal
With 10 minutes to go in a tied match, St. Luke’s Episcopal junior Chatman Stephenson misfired on a shot at an open net. He made up for it.
Stephenson scored with 1:55 remaining to lift the Wildcats (21-5-2) to a 4-3 victory over Tuscaloosa Academy in Friday’s AHSAA Class 1A-3A Boys’ Soccer state semifinals at John Hunt Park in Huntsville. St. Luke’s, coached by Ryon Depinet, can win its first AHSAA boys’ soccer state title Saturday when the Wildcats meet Tanner in the championship game. The Rattlers (22-5-0) will also be hoping to win their first championship too.
Ryan Knotts, Mason Brown and Jameson Bryant scored first-half goals for St. Luke’s, which took a 3-1 lead into halftime.
Tuscaloosa Academy (18-6-1), coached by Morgan Wilson, finally got on the board when Anton Schmidt scored midway through first half for the Knights (18-6-1). In the second half, Schmidt scored two goals in less than three minutes – both on assists from Yakut Eksin – to tie the game with just over 29 minutes to go. Stephenson eventually scored the game-winner with 1:55 to play.
St. Luke’s goalkeeper Larson Holt made five saves, and Tuscaloosa Academy goalkeeper Walker McKee had six saves. Both teams finished with 13 shots.
Tuscaloosa Academy, in its first year as an AHSAA member, fell one game shy of playing for a state soccer title.
Boys 4A Semifinal:
Westbrook Christian scored one goal in each half and pitched a shutout to edge Westminster Christian Academy 2-0 in the AHSAA Class 4A Boys’ State Soccer Championships semifinals at John Hunt Park.
The Warriors’ avenged an earlier 5-0 loss by the Westbrook Christian girls to Westminster in the 4A girls’ semifinals earlier in the day.
Westbrook (12-9-3) got the momentum early thanks to a pass from sophomore midfielder Jake Edwards to senior forward Ethan Pratt, who scorched a shot from eight yards out into the net for a 1-0 lead just 1:57 into the match. Senior John Gilchrist added an insurance goal with just over 13 minutes remaining. Goalkeeper Brady Fouts had three saves in the shutout.
Westminster Christian (16-7-0), coached by Kerry St. John, managed nine shots and just three on goal. Goalkeeper Josh Pomnitz also had three saves.
Westbrook Christian will take on Bayside Academy (16-1-3) in the finals Saturday at 5 p.m. The Admirals downed Oneonta 3-1 in the other semifinal Friday.
All 10 state championship matches will be played Saturday at John Hunt Park and will be live-streamed over the NFHS Network’s subscriber-based live-streaming platform.
Girls 4A Semifinal:
Westminster Christian Academy’s AnnaLi Weekly scored two goals in the span of 87 seconds Friday to open the second half to break open a close match with Westbrook Christian, and the Wildcats rolled to a 5-0 victory in the AHSAA Class 4A Girls’ Soccer Championships semifinals at John Hunt Park.
Weekly, who finished with four goals, gave her team the lead at 35:16 in the first half thanks in part to an outstanding pass from Brianna Tinsley as Westminster (14-4-1) took a 1-0 lead. He took control early in the second half, however, netting an unassisted goal at 41:06 and following with a feed from Jasmine Feld at the 42:33 mark for her third goal of the match.
She closed her scoring with a goal at 55:33, and Feld got the last final goal with six and one-half minutes remaining to give the Wildcats, coached by Hunter Chapman, the 5-0 victory.
Westbrook Christian (15-5-1), coached by Jody Keene, managed just eight shots with three on goal against the tough Wildcats defense. Warriors goalkeeper Madelyn Machen had eight saves, and Westminster goalkeeper Piper Blazier had three saves.
Westminster Christian will meet St. Michael Catholic (19-5-0) in the Class 4A girls’ championship match Saturday at 1 p.m. All 10 state championship matches will be played Saturday at John Hunt Park and will be live-streamed over the NFHS Network’s subscriber-based live-streaming platform.
Boys 5A Semifinal
John Carroll High School’s Cavaliers have won more state championships than any other team in AHSAA state history. It has been 11 years since the Cavs won state crown No. 10 in 2012.
Coach Mark Kirkpatrick and his team will be vying for state title No. 11 Saturday at 5 p.m., at John Hunt Park after John Carroll’s decisive 4-0 victory over Guntersville in the AHSAA Boys’ State Soccer Championships semifinals Friday night.
The Wildcats (23-4-1), coached by Jacob LyBrand and Zach Ross, never could get their offense going as Cavaliers kept the ball on the offensive end all night. Junior Charles Farr scored two goals, and seniors Jacob McMahon and Gabe Retrepo had one goal each to pace the winners.
John Carroll (19-7-3) had 24 shots, 11 on goal, and limited Guntersville to just five shots all night to seal the win.
Guntersville goalkeeper Slaide Moore had six saves – a couple coming in dramatic fashion, to keep the match close for a while.
John Carroll will face Gulf Shores in Saturday’s finals. All 10 state championship matches will be played Saturday at John Hunt Park and will be live-streamed over the NFHS Network’s subscriber-based live-streaming platform.
Girls 5A Semifinal:
Sophomore midfielder Rebecca Sierra-Burciaga scored two goals and assisted on a third as Springville downed East Limestone 3-2 to advance to Saturday’s AHSAA Class 5A Girls’ State Soccer championship.
The Tigers (20-2-0), coached by Meg Childress took full advantage of their first-ever trip to the AHSAA State Soccer Championships with a solid and steady performance on offense and defense.
Springville had 18 shots to East Limestone’s 17, and had 12 shots-on-goal to the Indians’ seven.
Sierra-Burciaga managed the match’s first goal at 22:44 of the first half. East Limestone (20-3-1), coached by Rachael Black, clawed back to tie the score early in the second half with Lily Hosmer scoring by taking a feed from Kaylie Gibson and getting past the goalie for the score.
Springville’s Annie Grant gave the Tigers the lead for good just two minutes later by finishing a pass from Sierra-Burciaga with a kick from the left side. Sierra-Burciaga nailed her final goal at the 69-minute mark with a 25-yard shot into the top left corner of the goal to provide the needed final goal.
East Limestone’s Brianna Proudfoot closed the Tigers’ lead to 3-2 with a goal three minutes later. The Springville defense held firm over the last eight minutes for the win.
Goalkeeper Sophie Crotts had five saves for Springville and East Limestone’s Raegan Black had nine.
Springville will meet Gulf Shores in the finals Saturday at 3 p.m. All 10 state championship matches will be played Saturday at John Hunt Park and will be live-streamed over the NFHS Network’s subscriber-based live-streaming platform.
Westbrook Christian scored one goal in each half and pitched a shutout to edge Westminster Christian Academy 2-0 in the AHSAA Class 4A Boys’ State Soccer Championships semifinals at John Hunt Park.
   The Warriors’ avenged an earlier 5-0 loss by the Westbrook Christian girls to Westminster in the 4A girls’ semifinals earlier in the day.
    Westbrook (12-9-3) got the momentum early thanks to a pass from sophomore midfielder Jake Edwards to senior forward Ethan Pratt, who scorched a shot from eight yards out into the net for a 1-0 lead just 1:57 into the match. Senior John Gilchrist added an insurance goal with just over 13 minutes remaining. Goalkeeper Brady Fouts had three saves in the shutout.
ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýWestminster Christian (16-7-0), coached by Kerry St. John, managed nine shots and just three on goal. Goalkeeper Josh Pomnitz also had three saves.
    Westbrook Christian will take on Bayside Academy (16-1-3) in the finals Saturday at 5 p.m. The Admirals downed Oneonta 3-1 in the other semifinal Friday.
    All 10 state championship matches will be played Saturday at John Hunt Park and will be live-streamed over the NFHS Network’s subscriber-based live-streaming platform.
