STATE SOCCER: MA, Trinity girls advance to title game; MA boys eliminated

By TIM GAYLE

Montgomery Academy 5, John Carroll 0

HUNTSVILLE -- Montgomery Academy continued its march toward a fourth consecutive state championship, shutting out John Carroll 5-0 in the 4A-5A state semifinals at John Hunt Park on Thursday.

The Eagles (19-0-1) will face hometown favorite St. John Paul in the championship match on Friday at 5 p.m.

Since losing in the 1A-3A semifinals to Holy Spirit on penalty kicks in 2016, the Eagles have won a pair of 1A-3A championship trophies and one 4A-5A title, compiling a postseason record of 16-0 -- and 10 shutouts -- in the process. MA has outscored its playoff opponents 96-9 in the last four state tournaments. 

The game got off with a flying start when Leighton Robertson scored after 45 seconds. Robertson and Hayes Jenkins each added a goal in the following few minutes to see MA up 3-0 in just 10 minutes. Just before half, Sophia Cho fed Robertson, who rifled it in to finish off her hat trick. An Alex Budny corner set up Katherine Sinco, who rounded off the scoring with a header.

“It was a great all-around team performance,” MA coach Joe White said. “The girls played hard and did not stop working. Looking forward to another tough one tomorrow.”

Montgomery Academy, making its 21st postseason appearance in the last 23 years, will be making its ninth appearance in the finals in the last 10 state tournaments, going 7-1 in that span. This will be White’s first trip as the Eagles’ head coach.

Eva Martson had seven saves to pace the Lady Cavs. John Carroll (10-10-1) only had one shot on goal the entire match.

Trinity Presbyterian 3, Cottage Hill Christian 2

HUNTSVILLE -- Mary Davis Bricken scored a pair of goals and Mary Alice Sasser added another to lift the Wildcats past Cottage Hill Christian on Thursday in the 1A/3A semifinal at John Hunt Park. 

Trinity (18-4-2) will play Donoho (21-0-2) for the 1A-3A state championship on Friday at 7 p.m. Trinity has reached the finals three times, losing 2-1 to Montgomery Academy in 2001 and beating Guntersville 2-1 in 2018.

Bricken nailed the first goal four minutes into the match thanks in part to an on-the-spot assist by Emily Etheredge. Cottage Hill stormed back with a goal by Taylor Davidson from the left side of the  goal to tie the match at 1-1. Both teams added first-half goals later in the first half for a 2-2 halftime score.

Bricken added a second-half goal and goal keeper Kalee Peevy did the rest to preserve the win. Hastings Avant and Bentley Moore added assists for the Wildcats. 

Goal keeper Meg Hannan had eight saves for Cottage Hill (14-3-4).

BOYS SOCCER

Indian Springs 2, Montgomery Academy 0

HUNTSVILLE -- Indian Springs broke open a scoreless defensive masterpiece with two goals in a four-minute span in the second half to clinch a berth in the Class 4A-5A state soccer finals with a 2-0 win over Montgomery Academy.

Montgomery Academy (18-2-1) was making its seventh appearance in the state tournament and its first back-to-back trips since 1995-96. The Eagles have never reached the finals.

Liam Falconer landed the first goal with 55:44 in the second half, landing a pass from Jackson Nabors to take the lead for good. Nabors picked up his second assist three minutes later, delivering a pass to Nathan Tozzi for the insurance goal.

It was the fourth postseason meeting between the two programs and the fourth shutout. After winning the first meeting 1-0 in 2004, MA has now lost 4-0, 3-0 and 2-0.

Indian Springs (22-2-1) will be vying for its fourth state title against Russellville (19-0-0) on Friday at 5 p.m.