The Reset: Soccer teams compete in finals
Over the course of the year, Vestavia Voice will keep you up to date on the various Vestavia Hills High School athletic teams. For previous weekly updates, click here.
GOLF
Vestavia Hills High’s Austin Coggin shot a 70 at the Class 7A North Sub-State tournament on Monday, May 7, at Timberline Golf Club in Calera.
The score was good enough to qualify for the state tournament as an individual. The state tournament will be held Monday and Tuesday, May 14-15, at The Shoals Golf Club in Muscle Shoals.
SOCCER
The Vestavia Hills girls soccer team avenged a loss to McGill-Toolen in last season’s Class 7A state final with a 2-1 win in this year’s final on Saturday. Click here to read about the Lady Rebels’ feat.
The boys team fell just short in the state final, falling 2-1 to Auburn.
Auburn notched the opening goal nearly midway through the first half, despite the Rebels controlling possession throughout the early portion of the match. Auburn notched a second goal in the second half before Ford Hunt finally got the Rebels on the board by converting a penalty kick with roughly 16 minutes remaining in the contest.
“We played the best we could,” said coach Leo Harlan. “The kids fought hard. We just went up against a great team.”
The Rebels finished the season with an 18-6-1 record.
Tony Shaw’s goal propelled the Rebels to a 1-0 semifinal victory on Friday.
Both sides had battled throughout the match with neither gaining any appreciable momentum or advantage, despite plenty of physical play and a couple of yellow cards. But in the 58th minute, Shaw was in the right place at the right time.
“A ball came over the top, it bounced one time off the keeper. I hit it, it got blocked, I went for it again and it went in the back of the net,” Shaw said.
From that point on, the Rebels simply ran out the clock while the Spartans tried desperately to find scoring chances, but to no avail. Indeed, chances were hard to find throughout the whole match, as Vestavia only got off six shots, two on goal, while Mountain Brook tallied just three shots with none on target. Spartan goalkeeper Reid Freeman had the only save of the match — as well as the only goal allowed.
Collin Armstrong had two shots for Vestavia, while Sam Rysedorph also had two for Mountain Brook.
LACROSSE
The Vestavia Hills girls lacrosse team picked up a 7-6 win over Oak Mountain on Saturday to win the state championship.
- Robert Carter contributed to this report.
— This will be the final sports reset of the school year. Check back later in the week for an update from the state golf tournament. For any suggestions, feel free to email sports editor Kyle Parmley at kparmley@starnespublishing.com.