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Auburn High’s Paige Martin (12) celebrates with Lulabelle Hammer (10) and Meredith Martin (19) after scoring in the first half of an AHSAA 7A playoff soccer match against Enterprise in Auburn on Tuesday, April 30, 2024.
Auburn High’s Samantha Reitz (4) celebrates after scoring in the second half of an AHSAA 7A playoff soccer match against Enterprise in Auburn on Tuesday, April 30, 2024.
Auburn High goalkeeper Melissa Smith (0) clears the ball in the first half of an AHSAA 7A playoff soccer match against Enterprise in Auburn on Tuesday, April 30, 2024.
Sam Reitz and the seniors have the Tigers back in the Final Four.
Now, with some rising younger talent following them into the fold, together they try to take the final step.
The Auburn High girls soccer team competes in the Class 7A state tournament in Huntsville starting Thursday, when Auburn High faces McGill-Toolen in the semifinals of the state playoffs at 1 p.m. The winner goes to the championship game Saturday in Huntsville.
Auburn High made it to the championship last season before finishing runner-up with a 2-1 loss to Sparkman in the big game. Reitz has been a star in both runs. This year, the senior Mercer signee has 25 goals and 24 assists on the season.
She’s led the way along with four of her fellow seniors — with a talented younger group packing its own punch.
“We’ve got a really cool blend,” Auburn High head coach Bill Ferguson said, on mixing those older and younger players. “So far it’s working, so we’ve just got to keep after it.”
Yes indeed: The Tigers crushed Enterprise 7-0 in the first round of the playoffs, then beat Dothan at Dothan 2-1 in the second round to get to Thursday’s semis.
The other seniors key to the dream season are winger Scarlet Adams, co-captain along with Reitz, plus veterans in the back Mally Nappier and Anne Trammell, along with Hattie Parker who adds even more experience.
Some of those young players joining them are particularly young: Lulabelle Hammer is an eighth-grader on varsity who played on varsity as a seventh-grader last year. Paige Martin is a standout freshman in the midfield. Then there are the juniors, led by Camilla Bosman and Claire Nappier, who Ferguson said are both dynamic players.
“We’ve got a lot of belief in our team and a lot of trust in each other,” Ferguson said. “It’s been, already, a very successful season as far as not just records but what we set as some of our goals: We wanted to be back in the Final Four and we’re there, we’ve remained at the top end of the table all season, so we’re going to keep eyes forward and keep taking care of business.”
Of course, the Tigers face a formidable foe in McGill-Toolen. Ferguson said the Yellow Jackets’ Natalie Burt is a speedy right-side winger that the Tigers will have to try to get on fast, and he said midfielder Riley Kate Naman is dangerous with her creativity. “Players like that, we just want to make sure we’re not giving them a lot of time in space and just kind of know where they’re at, to try to neutralize their threats,” Ferguson said. “But for the most part, it’s more about being us as much as trying to adapt to somebody else. If we go do what we’re capable of, the goal is that they’ve got to adjust to us.”
And, of course, it’s been another remarkable run to the state tournament, regardless.
“They’ve started strong, but they’ve continued to pick up things and they’re hungry, and we’ve got great senior leadership, which is so important because we’re actually quite young,” Ferguson said of his team. “We’ve got a lot of underclassmen on our team and our roster, so it’s been really neat to see the experience and the leadership from our older players but also a lot of our younger players are quite talented. They’re really pushing us to be a better program.
“So it’s been a cool mixture of new players and returning players and we’ve continued to get better, so that’s fun to watch.”
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The Auburn High girls advance to the Class 7A playoffs quarterfinals.
Auburn High’s Paige Martin (12) celebrates with Lulabelle Hammer (10) and Meredith Martin (19) after scoring in the first half of an AHSAA 7A playoff soccer match against Enterprise in Auburn on Tuesday, April 30, 2024.
Auburn High’s Samantha Reitz (4) celebrates after scoring in the second half of an AHSAA 7A playoff soccer match against Enterprise in Auburn on Tuesday, April 30, 2024.
Auburn High goalkeeper Melissa Smith (0) clears the ball in the first half of an AHSAA 7A playoff soccer match against Enterprise in Auburn on Tuesday, April 30, 2024.
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