ALBERTVILLE – The Cullman Bearcats have played some outstanding soccer over the last week.
Playing cool under pressure, the Bearcats upset 6A, Area 14 champion Albertville 2-0 Saturday night on the road in the quarterfinals of the Alabama High School Athletic Association playoffs.
This was Cullman's third win in postseason play since a 4-3 overtime victory at Fort Payne last Saturday, followed by a 2-0 triumph over Florence in the second round on campus Tuesday evening.
Junior Miguel Tizapa has been on a tear, scoring at least one goal per playoff round. Tizapa broke a scoreless tie with a goal, off an assist from Isaac Rodriguez, that sent Cullman ahead 1-0 by halftime.
Tizapa gave the Bearcats breathing room when he tallied his second goal of the contest, this one coming with less than 30 minutes remaining.
Inspired by the scoring from Tizapa, the Cullman defense kept Albertville off the scoreboard with another fine performance on goal by Jaron Potter.
Potter recorded his second consecutive playoff shutout and the Bearcats avenged two early season losses in area play to Albertville by scores of 1-0.
The last time the two met was on April 11 with the Aggies winning in penalty kicks, scoring one more than the Bearcats did.
Since the loss to Albertville, coach Casey Harbin's Bearcats have won five consecutive assignments and now are a step closer of defending their AHSAA 6A state title.
The Bearcats play the winner of the McAdory-Carver game in the semifinals next weekend in Huntsville. The date and game time will be announced later.
Image courtesy of Cullman High School.
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