Spanish Fort girls win 5A State Soccer championship

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — Spanish Fort scored three goals in the second half and MVP Elissa VandeWaa had two goals and three assists as the Lady Toros defeated Chelsea 6-3 in the AHSAA Class 5A girls soccer championship on Saturday.

Jessica Watts added two goals, Alicia Linder had a goal and an assist and Megan Forbes scored for the Lady Toros in the win.

"The feeling here is unbelievable," Spanish Fort coach Barclay Kercher said. "This is a special group that I've been coaching for four years. I've had my seniors since they were freshman. Being able to give this to them, for some of their last games, what a great memory for them. All their hard work paid off and I am proud to be a part of it."

Chelsea led 3-1 midway through the first half. Spanish Fort tied the game at 3 before the break on goals from VandeWaa and Linder.

The Lady Toros scored four minutes into the second half on Forbes' goal with an assist from Rebekah Diring. Three minutes later, Jessica Watts scored the first of her two goals off an assist from VandeWaa.

"It was early and we were moving kind of slow at first," VandeWaa said. "We really picked it up and gained some intensity at half time. We were just ready to go. We were ready to go win state."

The Lady Toros finished with a 24-4-1 record.