Anniston, AL – No. 2 seed Donoho girls upset top seed Oxford 3-0 to win sixth consecutive county title; Wakefield most valuable player
By Brant Locklier
Calhoun County girls soccer has been ruled by the Donoho Falcons since its inception six years back. Thus, the Falcon soccer team was surprised when they were seeded No. 2 in the pre-tournament meeting Sunday.
Since they have never lost a county tournament match, they used it as a rallying cry to go out and defeat top-seeded Oxford 3-0 in Thursday’s.
It was Donoho’s sixth straight Calhoun County championship. Senior Lily Grace Draper has seen five of those titles as a player.
”We have won six in a row now, and we wanted everybody to know that we were better than a 2 seed,” Draper said. ”We wanted to show the doubters, and we did.”
The Falcons dominated play and spent most of the first half with the ball on the Oxford side of the field, but could not score. They came out blazing in the second half and powered in a goal by Chloe Melton at the 31-minute mark to go up 1-0.
“We told our kids at the half that they had to play hard, play smart and play together,” Donoho coach Vinny Yslava said. “We dropped back on defense after that score and picked our spots to attack.”
The Falcons’ leading scorer, Erin Turley, was nursing a leg injury and played sparingly, but she managed to knock in a goal at the 12-minute mark to put the game away.
“We had to change Erin’s role due to her injury, and she was more of a distributor and a facilitator,” Yslava said.
Zoe Christopher finished the Donoho scoring with a final goal at the one-minute mark left in the game.
Donoho goalie Babat Aremu had nice game in goal, as she held off 12 Oxford second-half shots on goal.
For Draper, it was her fifth Calhoun County title, and the star tennis player has won six county tennis titles. She has been a part of two volleyball state champions as winning several state individual tennis championships.
She was recently named the winner of the 38th annual Bryant -Jordan regional award by the AHSAA and has a 4.0 GPA.
All-tournament team
MVP: Samantha Wakefield, Donoho.
Most outstanding offensive player: Zoe Christopher, Donoho.
Most outstanding defensive player: Sawyer Brooks, Oxford.
Donoho: Lillie Mae Sherman, Chloe Melton, Erin Turley, Rory Parks.
Oxford: Reygan White, Mia Munoz, Hannah Grace Robbins.
Saks: Layla Garcis, Daniela Escandon.
Jacksonville: Emma Easterling, Vilma Rios.
Faith Christian: Lily Weathers.
White Plains: Lorali McKenzie.
Weaver: Ximena Chaves.
2023 Girls’ Calhoun County tournament
McClellan
Tuesday
No. 4 Jacksonville 3, No. 5 Weaver 1
No. 3 Saks 3, No. 6 Faith Christian 0
No. 2 Donoho 10, No. 7 White Plains 0
Wednesday
No. 1 Oxford 3, Jacksonville 0
Donoho 2, Saks 1
Thursday
Championship
Donoho 3, Oxford 0
Isaac Crook Invitational
Boys
Tuesday
Jacksonville 8, Weaver 0
Friday
Oxford High School
Jacksonville at Donoho, 5 p.m.
Oxford vs. White Plains, 7 p.m.
Saturday
Oxford High School
Championshp, 7 p.m.
