Hewitt-Trussville Soccer opened the first round of the AHSAA State Playoffs with a high-energy night on the road, as the Huskies faced one of the top teams in the state in a battle that lived up to the moment.
The fourth-ranked Huskies rose to the occasion in a statement win, knocking off No. 3 Thompson 3-1 on Wednesday night to advance to the next round.
After a scoreless first half, Jason Merriwether broke through in the 42nd minute, finding the back of the net off an assist from Brennan Greer to give Hewitt-Trussville a 1-0 lead. The momentum carried into the second half, where Greer delivered a highlight moment of his own, curling a left-footed free kick into the upper corner in the 50th minute to extend the lead to 2-0.
With control of the match in hand, Stephen Delfin added the final goal for the Huskies with just 12 minutes remaining, finishing off an assist from Jonathon Emmerich to make it 3-0.
Defensively, the Huskies were anchored by a standout performance from sophomore goalkeeper Bryant Steele, who recorded 11 saves and consistently denied Thompson's scoring chances. Thompson managed to find the net in the final 90 seconds, but it was too little, too late as Hewitt secured the 3-1 victory.
The win improves the Huskies to 14-4-6 on the season and sends them into the next round of the Class 7A playoffs.
Hewitt-Trussville will now return home to host top-ranked Florence on Saturday at 6:00 p.m. at Hewitt-Trussville Soccer Stadium.
Click here to read the story by the Trussville Tribune: https://www.trussvilletribune.com/.../huskies-advance.../
Click here to read the story by AL.com: https://www.al.com/.../alabama-high-school-soccer-hewitt...
Click here to purchase tickets for Saturday against Florence: https://gofan.co/event/6562944?schoolId=AL1033