From staff reports

Both East Limestone soccer teams opened area play earlier this week with wins over Lee-Huntsville.

The varsity boys won 9-0 behind the play of Mathew Meyer and Dilan Sayer, who led the team in scoring. Both had two goals each. Caleb King, Ryan Countess, Michael Mingus, Ryan Swain and Zach Craver also scored.

The Indians led 6-0 at the half and added three goals in the second half for the victory.

“Playing stiff competition before getting into area play definitely paid off, and we hope it will continue,” head coach Patrick Chambless said.

Meanwhile, in the varsity girls game, Bristol Countess scored two-and-a-half minutes into the game as the team prevailed over Lee 10-0.

Countess and Kiarah Cox had a hat trick, with three goals each. Also scoring were Michelle Blansit, Alexis Bunley, Summer Scott and Jordan Runion.

“A good offensive showing is usually set up by good defensive positioning and passing,” Lady Indians head coach Brad Carwile said.

Countess was recently recognized for breaking the number of corner kicks in a game. She recorded 12 against Brewer on March 4, surpassing the 11 set by three former players. Anna Black and Kelly Saylor were also recognized for individual awards. Black recently reached her 100th start, while Saylor currently holds the career save record.

“The great thing about these girls is that these things are not near as important as leading and guiding the other players to victory,” Carwile said.

The Lady Indians and Athens travel to Cullman this weekend for the Shamrock Classic. The boys are in action tonight against Madison Academy.



Florence Soccer Challenge (VB)

Athens High pushed their overall record to 5-4-1 last weekend with wins over Madison Academy, West Limestone and Albertville.

The Golden Eagles opened play in the tournament with an 8-1 win over the Mustangs. In the first minute of play, Devin Hooie scored the first goal for Athens with Spencer Curry credited with the assist. Minutes later, Curry added a second goal for the Golden Eagles on an assist from Hunter Smith. Senior Henry Vicente placed a shot past the Madison Academy goalkeeper to push the lead to 3-0. Hooie provided the assist.  



Athens 4, West 0

Twelve minutes into the match, Perez scored a goal for Athens on an assist from Vicente.  Strong defensive play prevailed and the halftime score stood at 1-0.    

Second-half goals were scored by Christopher (assist by Perez), Hooie (assist by Taylor Pool) and Ramon Jurado (assist from Jose Soto). Athens received strong defensive play from Hunter Brown, Wynn Baker, T.J. Huff, Trey Grantham, Christopher Gregory, Will Baker and John Sampson to maintain the shutout. Fernando Valberde went the distance in goal for AHS.



Athens 3, Albertville 0

The Golden Eagles completed pool play with a 3-0 victory over the ninth-ranked Aggies.  All three Athens goals came in the first half of play. Curry scored the first goal with senior Taylor Pool dishing out the assist 12 minutes into the match. Ten minutes later, Pool provided another assist, leading to a goal by senior forward Perez. With less than 7 minutes to play in the first half, seniors   



Fort Payne 4, Athens 1

For the second year in a row, the Golden Eagles earned a spot in the final four of the tournament, only to be defeated by the eventual winner.  

In the 10th minute of play, Fort Payne was awarded a penalty kick after a handball was called on an Athens defender. However, AHS goalkeeper Fernando Valberde made a save on the shot.  

Five minutes later, the Wildcats were awarded their second penalty kick, which was good. Another successful penalty kick in the 25th minute of play gave Fort Payne a 2-0 lead.  With 1 minute remaining in the first half, a Fort Payne forward beat the Athens defense to score, pushing the halftime margin to 3-0.



Mardi Gras Classic

The Lady Golden Eagles brought home the bronze medal from the Mardi Gras Classic recently.

After dropping their first two matches, Athens rebounded on day two of the tournament with a 4-1 win over Alma Bryant.

Athens struck first and scored off a goal from Brook Phillips on what turned out to be the only score of the first half. Phillips made it 2-0 to begin the second half. She later assisted Grace Morgan for the third goal of the game. Shannon Donnelly scored the only other Athens goal with 1:30 remaining.



Athens 3, Gulf Shores 1

Morgan scored off an assist by Phillips to give Athens the early 1-0 lead. Less than five minutes later, the two switched roles and Phillips scored off an assist from Morgan to extend the Lady Golden Eagles lead. Gulf Shores struck just before halftime and scored with 4:33 remaining in the first half making it 2-1.

In the second half, Frances Conway found the back of the net with a shot to the upper right corner of the net with 26:35 remaining in the game for Athens as they held on for the win.