Shelia Woods gets past Talladega goal keeper for a goal Tuesday. Brian Schoenhals
“It felt great to win on Senior Night,” Woods said. “I wish we could have won more this season. It feels good to win.”
Sylacauga head coach Mike Robinson was pleased to end the regular season with a win. The Lady Aggies (7-10-3) finished as runner up in the area and will travel to take on Moody in the first round of the playoffs on Tuesday.
“It is the last game of the season and it is always great to win in front of your home crowd,” Robinson said. ”It was a big night for my seniors. All three of our goals that we scored tonight were by seniors. This also gave us a chance to put in a lot of the younger girls and give them some playing time. This is also the first time I had most of my team back from injury. At one point I was down eight girls on the bench with injuries. This was good for the girls that have been down with injuries to get back into game shape and get touches on the ball before we play Moody on Tuesday in the first round of the playoffs.
Sylacauga kept the ball on their side of the field for most of the first half. At the 16:58 mark Woods drew the Talladega goalkeeper out the goal and was able to kick the ball into the back of the net.
“The first goal was when the ball got past over my head,” Wood said. “I just ran through the keeper and scored when she came out.”
Talladega goalkeeper Sheleshia Truss didn’t allow too many balls to get past her in the first half. At the 13:27 and the 13:32 mark Truss made back to back athletic saves to keep the Lady Aggies off the scoreboard.
“Personally I think she is one of the best in the state,” Talladega head coach Jerrell Burns said. “She is a first year player and I am blown away on how she came along, because she was not starting. She ended up taking the position. The sky is the limit for her.”
The Lady Aggies went 2-0 at the 29:44 mark of the first half when Woods took a direct kick and then crossed the ball to Corissa Lambert for a goal.
Sylacauga took a 2-0 lead into intermission.
Woods scored her second goal of the game on a rebound in front the net at the 53:43 mark.
The Lady Tigers (0-10) struggled offensively as they didn’t get many good looks at the goal the entire night.
“We have not quite got the offense going like we wanted too,” Burns said. “I think we came a mighty long way from the beginning of the season. I am very encouraged. Today I feel like we gave away a couple of cheap shots, but at the same time they are well-coached team. Just for the fact that we stayed in the game I am pleased.”
The Lady Aggies had four seniors to be honored after the game. Robinson said he is going to miss his seniors,
“We have four seniors and two of them are going on to play college ball,” Robinson said. “We also have a senior that received a full cheerleading scholarship. All four of them are wonderful ladies and they are going to be greatly missed. They are leaders of the team like they should be as seniors. Like all the seniors that came before them they are helping me develop the program into what it is today.”
The Lady Aggies travel to take on Moody on Tuesday in the first round of the AHSAA Class 5A playoffs.
