Four Dothan youth teams win state soccer titles

Four Dothan youth soccer teams were crowned state champions on their home turf Sunday in the ARPA tournament at the Westgate Complex.

The Dothan 11-under boys and girls teams won titles, as did the Dothan 9-under girls team and the 13-under co-ed team.

Almost unbelievably for a tournament of this magnitude, three of the four Dothan championship teams didn’t give up a goal during the two-day tournament.

The 11-under boys outscored their opponents a combined 22-0 over four games, while the 11-under girls won four games by a combined 7-0 total.

“This is a team made up of players from five other (city league) teams,” said Earl Pitman, coach of the 11-under boys. “What impressed me was the boys started out a bunch of individuals, but after a few weeks of practices and games, they came together as a team.

“As they met stronger competition, they saw the importance of passing the ball instead of trying to dribble in.”

Dothan defeated Prattville 2-0 in the championship match on Sunday afternoon after beating Opelika 3-0 earlier in the day.

In the win over Prattville, Trevor Reynolds and Marshall Powell each scored goals. In the win over Opelika, Freddie Fernandez, Harrison Reeves and Marshall Powell all scored. Logan McDaniel got the wins in goal.

“Today in the championship game, I would say the most valuable player for the team was Marshall Powell,” Pitman said. “He did a good job of keeping the ball on the other team’s end.”

The 11-under girls, though outsized by most of their opponents, used speed to their advantage and refused to back down on their hometown field.

“We said, ‘Bring it on,’’’ coach Vince Carter said. “I told the girls that nobody comes into our house and pushes us around.”

Dothan defeated Troy in the final game 1-0, with the lone goal coming late in the first half from Virginia Cook. Megan Sandal got the win in goal with five saves. Earlier in the day, Dothan beat Opelika 3-0 as Caitlyn Carter scored two goals and Sam Cisco the other. Riley Holman got three saves at goalkeeper in that win.

Carter said the team of all-stars meshed together well.

“I tell them everybody has a job to do out there,” Carter said. “If you get out of position, someone else will have to get out of position.”

Carter said center fullback Monya Wimberly played extremely well defensively and called midfielder Sally Hoffman the quarterback of the team.

“She (Hoffman) creates a lot of opportunities and covers the whole field from front to back,” Carter said.

The Dothan 13-under co-ed team defeated Troy 2-0 in the championship match. For Dothan, Christian Heersink and Richard Howell scored the goals — both coming in the first half. On Saturday, the team got 4-0 wins over Opelika and Russellville.

Zach Shirah and Quinn Bateman both played well in goal for Dothan during the tournament.

“They showed character from the very beginning,” coach Marnix Heersink said of his team. “They were unselfish and committed. I was telling them today, their character was as big as winning.”

Dothan’s 9-under girls defeated Fort Payne 3-2 to secure the championship. Gracie Hutto, Cypress Henderson and Bracia Bryant scored the Dothan goals. On Saturday, the team beat Troy 2-0 and Andalusia 3-0.

In the 9-under boys, Oxford defeated Fort Payne 2-1 in the championship match. The Dothan 9-under boys team got two wins on Sunday, beating Prattville 2-1 as Aaron Reynolds and Jake Martin scored goals, and also winning 3-2 over Talladega.

In the 15-under championship match, Opelika defeated Sylacauga 4-0. On Saturday, Dothan’s 15-under team got a 2-1 over Troy as Addison Evans and Deigo Chulane got goals.

The 18-under championship was won by Troy, with Prattville coming in second. Troy beat Eufaula 11-1 on Sunday, while Prattville defeated Dothan 2-0. Scoring goals for Troy in its win was Jayden Barnes (2), Lloyd Shillabeer, Douglas McLendon (4), Andrew Bentley (2) and Josh Taylor (2). Eufaula’s lone goal came from Joe Starling.