CULLMAN – Arab was a different team on the girls' soccer field Thursday afternoon after having a tough first half with the Cullman Lady Bearcats.
Cullman controlled the opening 35 minutes with two goals by Abby Branham and good team play with goalkeeper Ashley Grace Uphold turning away four shot opportunities.
But in the second half, Arab rose to the challenge, being aggressive near the Cullman goal and coming from behind for a 3-2 victory.
This was a matchup between the No. 7 team in the 5A rankings in paying a visit to No. 3 Cullman from the current 6A state poll.
Cullman got control right at the start of the match when the Lady 'Cats put the ball toward the Arab zone and ended it on a goal by Branham 50 seconds after the game started and a 1-0 advantage.
Cullman had six shots on goal in the opening half with another kick by Branham, getting deflected by an Arab defender and into the net for a 2-0 lead with 20:00 remaining until intermission.
The Lady 'Cats had a couple of more chances to try and to add to their advantage, but were unsuccessful in doing so. That would be the determining factor in the second half.
Arab outshot Cullman in goal attempts 12-4 during the final 35 minutes. With 24:00 to go in the contest, the Lady Knights were on the board with a goal by Madison Anderson to close the deficit to 2-1.
Anderson assisted in the second goal seven minutes later when Mckenzie Morgan got the ball past Uphold and the game was now a 2-2 battle.
Arab snapped the tie with 2:00 remaining on a header by eighth grader Josey Stinson.
Cullman did have two opportunities to try to tie the game after the Arab go-ahead goal. But both missed with Jeta Falcon attacking the left side of the Arab zone and a free kick from Ninfa Moreno with less than a minute to play. Moreno's kick sailed over the net, missing by inches.
Arab's Sarah Davidson turned away eight shots after the early two scores by Cullman's Branham with four shots coming in the second half.
The Lady 'Cats lost their second game in a row this week to a school from Marshall County. Albertville knocked them off Tuesday at home 1-0. Cullman is now 14-4-1 on the season.
Arab posted its fifth straight victory and moved to 15-3-1. The Lady Knights lead Class 5A, Area 12 that includes Fairview and West Point from the county.
Coach Casey Brown's Bearcats finish the regular season at home Tuesday against Westminster Christian from Huntsville at 4:30 p.m.
The first round of the playoffs for the Lady 'Cats has them at Southside-Gadsden on April 29.
