Teams battle to advance to Saturday's Morgan County finals
Mar. 24—March Madness is not just for the basketball floor.
It also can work for soccer and in particular at the Morgan County Tournament.
Thursday night at the Jack Allen Recreation Complex there was desperation with frantic play in tight matches, blowout wins, a come-from-behind victory and one match that came close to going into extra time.
There were also athletes finding their moments to shine. Maggie Rosencrance's corner kick advanced the Decatur girls to finals with a 1-0 win over Hartselle. Hunter Lawrence's late goal sent the Hartselle boys to the finals with a 1-0 win over Decatur.
West Morgan's Brandy Hernandez scored all five of her team's goals to move her team to the finals. Austin's Alex Gonzalez and Phi Lip Houng each scored three goals in a 7-0 win over Brewer to send the Black Bears to the finals.
"It's all about coming in here and believing you can win," Decatur girls soccer coach Sarah Beth Dunlap said. "That's why I like this tournament so much. It's the teams that want it the most that take the trophies."
Saturday's finals start at 10 a.m. with the Decatur girls vs. West Morgan. Decatur is going for its seventh straight Morgan County Tournament championship. West Morgan's last trip to the finals came in 2016.
The boys final is Austin vs. Hartselle. The teams met at Austin last month with the Black Bears winning 3-2. The teams met in the finals two years ago with Austin winning 2-0
—Decatur girls 1, Hartselle 0: Last year's tournament MVP Kacey Powell was perfect in goal for the Red Raiders. Rosencrance's game winner came in the first half.
"It means a lot to be in the finals every year," Dunlap said. "We have all the respect in the world for West Morgan. They have one of the best players in the area in Brandy Hernandez."
—West Morgan 5, Priceville 3: The Rebels trailed Priceville 2-1 at halftime and then 3-2 in the second half. West Morgan scored the game's finals three goals, including two on penalty kicks.
Hernandez was all the offense for West Morgan on Thursday like she has been all season.
"Brandy does score most of our goals, but we have a lot of girls who do a lot of different things that help us win," West Morgan coach Brandon Rice said.
West Morgan's Madison Parker recorded an assist. Diana Romero was in goal. For Priceville, Lillyan Bloodworth had two goals and Madelyn Kennedy added one.
The Rebels break their team huddles with "1-2-3, believe!"
"That's how we won tonight," Hernandez said. "Sometimes we don't believe we can win. Tonight we did and we won. Now we need to believe we can win in the finals."
A win Saturday could give the Rebels a giant dose of confidence late in a season that has not met expectations.
"We lost one senior off last year's team and felt really good about this season," Rice said. "Instead we've struggled, and a lot of that is because of a lack of confidence. Maybe this will get us going."
—Hartselle boys 1, Decatur 0: Lawrence got the game-winning goal late in the second half on a feed from Owen Bennich. Lawrence was in front of the goal and had a short kick to find the net.
"I knew right where Owen would place the ball," Lawrence said. "It's really special to win this game. Decatur beat us in our last game last season and knocked us out of the playoffs. We got some revenge tonight."
—Austin 7, Brewer 0: This game was never in doubt. It was 5-0 at halftime. Gonzalez had his three goals in the first half. Houng had two at intermission. Christian Sanchez also scored in the second half.
— david.elwell@decaturdaily.com or 256-340-2395. Twitter @DD_DavidElwell.
