CULLMAN – The weather finally cooperated Saturday morning as the Cullman Bearcats and Lady Bearcats took to the pitch to take on the Albertville Aggies and Lady Aggies in the first round of the 2016 6A state soccer playoffs.
Albertville 3, Cullman 1 (girls)
The No. 5 Lady Cats played their hearts out Saturday but they were unable to overcome the fast start by the Lady Aggies as they fell 3-1.
Albertville got things going when Daniela Reyes lobbed a shot over the Cullman goalie’s head into an empty net to give the Lady Aggies the 1-0 lead at the 14:02 mark of the first half and It was a lead that they would not relinquish. They would add one more goal in the first half when Zoie Carroll picked up a “trash” goal after Madison Smith rocketed a shot off the near post.
Reyes would add her second goal just two minutes into the second half as she rocketed a shot into the back of the net to cap the Albertville scoring, giving them a 3-0 lead. Cullman would pick up a goal with six minutes left in the game but it was not enough to stave off the upset as the Lady Cats’ season came to a close, falling to Albertville 3-1.
Cullman 4, Albertville 2 (boys)
In what turned out to be an extremely competitive match-up, Cullman looked as if they were going to run away with the game in the early going. Benjamin Walker quickly buried a shot deep in the back of the net for the first goal of the game and it was followed less than three minutes later when Isaac Rodriguez put a shot on goal after it rebounded back to his feet. Walker added his second goal at the 18:25 mark to put Cullman on top 3-0. Albertville would finally get on the board with a goal from Christian Ramirez with 14 minutes left in the first half.
A mere 28 seconds into the second half, Connor Moore found the back of the net again to make the score 3-2. The action would go back and forth at a furious pace before Miguel Tizapa of Cullman snapped off a shot that skidded by the Albertville keeper to put Cullman up 4-2 and the game out of reach.
Cullman advances to the second round of the 2016 6A soccer state playoffs as they travel to Fort Payne Tuesday night to take on the Wildcats at 7:30 p.m.
