Cullman’s varsity boys soccer team rolled to the Cullman County Cup over the weekend at Oliver Woodard Stadium, outscoring its three opponents 8-0 en route to the title.
Cullman beat St. Bernard 4-0 on Friday night and picked up a pair of 2-0 victories over West Point and Fairview on Saturday.
Cullman coach Will Drake described his team’s effort as “consistent.”
“It’s really difficult to have that kind of fatigue and come out and play your game three games in a row in 20 hours,” he said. “It’s something that is not easy to do. You have this many seniors and they’ve been a family for so long. But to learn to get the good parts of that and put it on the field, it’s important.”
Josue Sanchez scored five goals to lead the offense, and while he was doing work on the frontline, it was the Bearcat defense that really clamped down.
Keeper Wyatt Harris rarely was challenged with Grant Hopper, Sam Montgomery and Clay Bonds roaming the defensive side.
“You have those three guys especially … they work very, very well communicating with each other and understand what I expect from them,” Drake said.
Bonds missed the first game of the tournament, but others played well like Luke Johnson, Noah Warren and Zinedin Perez – among others.
“We had some other guys like Luke Johnson step in and fill that gap tremendously well,” Drake said. “Some guys who normally are attackers like Noah Warren were able to step out on the outside and keep everything locked up.”
This was the inaugural Cullman County Cup, and despite some cold weather and occasional rain, the event went off without a hitch.
“First, thanks to the boosters,” Drake said. “That’s the big thing, because it’s nice as the coach and all of us – Jacob Brown (West Point), Nick Feldner (Fairview), Adam French (St. Bernard) – to get to come out and take part with the team. We have tons of parents and families behind us to make it possible. That’s the very, very important thing for me is bringing the whole community together.”
Cullman improved to 5-1-2 on the season.
GAME 1
Fairview 2, West Point 2
Fairview and West Point opened the Cup with a 2-2 draw Friday evening.
Carlos Medina and the Aggies started fast. Medina scored in the second minute, then the sophomore masterfully weaved through the Warriors’ defense and used a couple of extra touches in front of the net before putting another shot through in the fifth minute.
But the West Point defense managed to clamp down from there, and the Warriors leaned on Omar Segundo to fight back to a draw. Segundo’s first goal came in the 11th minute on a sliding kick to the back-left corner. He added the equalizer in the 44th minute.
GAME 2
Cullman 4, St. Bernard 0
Cullman’s Josue Sanchez notched a hat trick to lead the Bearcats to a 4-0 victory over St. Bernard to cap Friday’s action.
Cullman led just 1-0 at the half on Sanchez’ first goal, but goals by Jayce Johnston and Sanchez just two minutes apart in the second half put the game away. Sanchez added his third goal in the 61st minute.
Wyatt Harris recorded a clean sheet in goal for the fourth time this season.
GAME 3
Cullman 2, West Point 0
A pair of first-half goals proved to be the difference for Cullman, as the Bearcats recorded a 2-0 win over West Point to open the action Saturday.
Cohen Scott found the back of the net in the 17th minute off of a cross from Rodrigo Gomez. Then, with just a few minutes to go in the opening half, Jayce Johnston scored off of a rebound.
GAME 4
Fairview 3, St. Bernard 0
After fighting to a scoreless draw through one half, Fairview got three goals in the final 20 minutes and beat St. Bernard 3-0.
It took a penalty kick by Jesus Avalos on a handball to break the tie in the 50th minute. Just 1:42 later, Carlos Medina put one through. An own goal by St. Bernard provided the final tally.
Sebastian Hernandez was busy in the second half but managed to record a clean sheet at keeper.
GAME 5
West Point 3, St. Bernard 0
West Point ended its play at the Cup with a 1-1-1 record by beating St. Bernard 3-0 in just one half of play.
Josh Shannon scored in the 7th minute off a corner kick before Hayden Hogan banged one over the keeper’s head from deep to give the Warriors a 2-0 advantage. Then, on a free kick, Ryan Douglas put one through near the top of the net in the 29th minute.
Jacob Bencze played the majority of the shortened game in goal for West Point, recording three saves.
GAME 6
Cullman 2, Fairview 0
The tournament ended with another shutout victory for Cullman, as the Bearcats defeated Fairview 2-0.
Josue Sanchez scored both goals in the opening half, the first coming off of a corner kick from Gianpaolo Cipollari 21 minutes into the game. His second goal came in the 34th minute.
Wyatt Harris recorded two saves.