Monday soccer playoff roundup: Vestavia Hills girls upset Spain Park
After 80 minutes of regulation and two overtimes Vestavia Hills upset top-ranked and previously unbeaten Spain Park 3-2 with a 5-4 penalty kick advantage in Class 7A first round of AHSAA girls soccer playoffs.
The teams were tied 4-all in the penalty kick shootout when Vestavia Hills’ Evelyn Hopkins blasted the ball past the Spain Park keeper into the right corner for the victory.
“This is probably the biggest win of my career as far as being the underdog going in,” said Vestavia Hills coach Brigid Meadow. “I think we were the only ones on the field tonight that really believed we could do this.”
The sixth-ranked Rebels (17-5-1) got first half goals from Anna Claire Black three minutes into the game and Betsy Whitson scored with 27 minutes left in the half.
Ranked by MaxPreps as the top girls team in the nation, Spain Park (21-1) scored two second half goals in the final 12 minutes to send the game into overtime. Tatum Ahlemeyer scored on a penalty kick and Auryn Tillette scored on an assist from Morgan Anthony.
Both keepers preserved the 2-all tie with outstanding saves in the overtime periods.
Spain Park beat the Rebels 4-1 on Feb. 27.
This post will be updated.