AHSAA STATE SOCCER TOURNEY: St. James girls to play for title; Elmore County, Marbury eliminated

St. James Katie Brightwell works past a Cottage Hill Christian defender in the Lady Trojans’ win in the Class 1A-3A semifinals in Huntsville (Marvin Gentry/AHSAA)

COMBINED REPORTS

HUNTSVILLE -- Katie Brightwell assisted on one goal and scored on another to lead the St. James girls into the finals for the first time in school history with a 2-1 win over Cottage Hill Christian on Friday morning at John Hunt Park. 

The Trojans recorded the biggest win in school history last year by beating Montgomery Academy 1-0 to reach the state tournament, but took one step further in its program on Friday by advancing to the Class 1A-3A finals.

St. James reached the state tournament in 2003 and 2022, but lost both times in the semifinals. 

St. James (15-1-2) will face Westminster-Oak Mountain (16-5-0) in the 1A-3A finals on Saturday at 1 p.m. Westminster reached the finals as four players scored goals in a 4-0 win over Susan Moore, taking advantage of a 23-2 margin in shots on goal. 

Cottage Hill (13-5-2) took the early lead when Taylor Davidson scored at 17:39 in the first half to stake the Warriors to a 1-0 lead. 

The Trojans tied the game at 1-1 a little over six minutes into the second half on a Kendal Wright goal that was assisted by Brightwell. Thirteen minutes later, Brightwell’s unassisted goal gave the Trojans the lead. 

Over the final 21 minutes, Trojan goalkeeper Katie Irving -- who made nine saves -- and her St. James’ defensive teammates preserved the lead to send St. James into the finals. 

Marbury girls’ run ends

Jensen Ward scored twice for the Gulf Shores (19-9) while Calista Sweet tallied a goal and assisted on Hannah Stracan’s first-half goal in a 4-1 victory over Marbury Friday in the AHSAA Class 4A Girls’ State Soccer Championships semifinals at John Hunt Park in Huntsville.
Marbury’s LeAnna Causey scored with about 10 minutes to go before halftime, but Ward scored on a penalty kick five minutes into the second half, and Sweet essentially put the game away with a goal in the 53rd minute.
Gulf Shores goalkeeper Kayleigh Steele made three saves. Marbury goalkeeper Mackenzie Smith had four saves. Marbury ends its season at 23-3. 

Elmore County ousted by Gulf Shores

Gulf Shores earned a 5-0 victory over Elmore County in Friday night’s Class 5A Boys’ State semifinals at John Hunt Park in Huntsville, scoring twice in the game's first four minutes. 
Jasper Calvert and Ronan Webb each scored a goal and added an assist in Friday’s victory. Talon Galvan, Lucas Pruett, and Bryan Nunez also scored goals, while Kole Wade, Carlos Diaz and Jerome Moran added assists.
Elmore County (12-4-1) managed just four shots. Goalkeeper J.T. Howell had two saves.

The Dolphins (23-6) advance to play John Carroll Catholic in Saturday’s Class 5A boys championship game. 

AHSAA STATE TOURNAMENT

Here are the pairings for the Alabama High School Athletic Association state soccer tournament on Thursday-Saturday at the Huntsville Soccer Complex. 

GIRLS

CLASS 1A-3A

Westminster-Oak Mountain 4, Susan Moore 0

St. James 2, Cottage Hill Christian 1 

Westminster-Oak Mountain (16-5) vs. St. James (15-1-2), Saturday, 1 p.m.

CLASS 4A 

Westminster Christian 5, Westbrook Christian 0

St. Michael Catholic 8, American Christian 0

Westminster Christian (14-4-1) vs. St. Michael Catholic (19-5-0), Saturday, 1 p.m.

CLASS 5A

Springville 3, East Limestone 2

Gulf Shores 4, Marbury 1

Springville (20-2) vs. Gulf Shores (19-9), Saturday, 3 p.m.

CLASS 6A

Homewood 6, Randolph 1

Montgomery Academy 2, Briarwood Christian 1 (2OT)

Homewood (22-5-1) vs. Montgomery Academy (17-3-1), Saturday, 9 a.m.

CLASS 7A

Sparkman 1, Oak Mountain 0

Auburn 4, Fairhope 0 

Sparkman (20-4) vs. Auburn (14-4), Saturday, 11 a.m.

BOYS

CLASS 1A-3A

Tanner 2, Westminster-Oak Mountain 1

St. Luke’s Episcopal 4, Tuscaloosa Academy 3

Tanner (21-5) vs. St. Luke’s Episcopal (21-3-2), Saturday, 3 p.m.

CLASS 4A

Westbrook Christian 2, Westminster Christian 0

Bayside Academy 3, Oneonta 1

Westbrook Christian (12-9-3) vs. Bayside Academy (16-1-3), Saturday, 5 p.m.

CLASS 5A

John Carroll 4, Guntersville 0

Gulf Shores 5, Elmore County 0

John Carroll (19-7-3) vs. Gulf Shores (23-6), Saturday, 5 p.m.

CLASS 6A

Fort Payne 3, Homewood 2

Montgomery Academy 5, Calera 0

Fort Payne (25-2-2) vs. Montgomery Academy (21-2-1), Saturday, 11 a.m.

CLASS 7A

Huntsville 1, Oak Mountain 0

Daphne 1, Dothan 0

Huntsville (14-8-4) vs. Daphne (16-3-2), Saturday, 9 a.m.