County soccer
- Updated: March 31, 2026
Donoho goalie helps Falcons’ girls survive penalty-kick shootout with White Plains. Jacksonville boys, girls and Oxford boys reach finals.
BOYS’ PAIRINGS
At Choccolocco Park
March 30
No. 4 White Plains 2, No. 5 Saks 1
No. 6 Faith Christian 3, No. 3 Weaver 1
No. 2 Jacksonville 10, No. 7 Anniston 0
March 31
Winners’ bracket
No. 1 Oxford 4, White Plains 0
Jacksonville 8, Faith Christian 0
April 2
Championship
Oxford vs. Jacksonville, 6:30 p.m.
Loser’s bracket (optional), 6:30 p.m.
GIRLS’ PAIRINGS
At Choccolocco Park
March 30
No. 4 Oxford 10, No. 4 Saks 0
No. 3 White Plains 10, No. 6 Weaver 0
March 31
Winners’ bracket
No. 1 Jacksonville 2 Oxford 0
No. 2 Donoho 3, White Plains 2 (3-1 PKs)
April 2
Championship
Jacksonville vs. Donoho, 5 p.m.
Losers’ bracket
Oxford vs. White Plains, 5 p.m.
By Joe Medley
East Alabama Sports Today
OXFORD — Anna Harrison McGehee came up with the perfect metaphor for a goalie winning a penalty-kick shootout.
“I feel like I just survived a natural disaster,” the Donoho keeper said.
McGehee blocked Layla Garcia’s penalty kick to lead off the shootout, and Donoho went on to win the shootout 3-1 on the way to winning their Calhoun County semifinal with White Plains 3-2 Tuesday.
Donoho, the No. 2 seed, advanced to face top seed Jacksonville in Thursday’s girls’ championship match.
Donoho got a goal apiece from Lauren Wigley and Brook Vandiber, and Garcia’s two second-half goals got White Plains to overtime.
A penalty-kick shootout would decide it. First up … Garcia vs. McGehee. Garcia kicked to her lft, and McGehee guessed right.
“She’s a good player, which everyone knows,” McGehee said. “”On those, you just have to guess, and I made my guess, and it was my luck.
“Normally, the more you curve, the more right side it’s going to go, so I just kind of made that guess, and fight or flight.”
White Plains’ next two kicks, from Selma Pascual and Lorali McKenzie, flew over the goal. Sophia Sanders and Chloe Melton put Donoho up 2-0 in the shootout, but White Plains’ Brooksly Thielker blocked Wigley to keep the shootout alive. Thielker finished with 24 saves.
White Plains’ Nathaly Rosas put one in the lower right corner to make it 2-1, but Vandiber scored to the lower right corner to make it 3-1 in the best-of-5 shootout and end the match.
Donoho’s bench rushed the field and mobbed McGehee.
McGehee’s stop on the first penalty-kick “changed the momentum dramatically,” Donoho coach Tim Melton said. “Harrison had a couple of good saves for us in the goal, so she was able to change the momentum a couple of times when they should’ve had a goal.”
White Plains coach Jamie Clendenin saw positives in how well his team played the eight-time defending county champion.
“There’s a ton of pride,” he said. “We played this team since I’ve been here. Last year, we got 10-0’d (mercy rule) both times we played them. This year, we played them in the first part of the year, and they ended up beating us 6-0, and I just remember them being up pretty quick on us.
“The girls played with heart, and that’s what you want to see.”
JACKSONVILLE 2, OXFORD 0: Top seed Jacksonville got a goal apiece from Emerson Weaver and Lexi Page and held on despite missing goalie Neveah Nicholson and forward Jayci Taylor with injuries.
“Neveah is out supposedly for a month with a hand injury, and Jayci is out for th week with a rolled ankle from travel basketball,” Jacksonville coach Chelsea Mize said.
The Golden Eagles also got an assist apiece from Weaver and Page on Tuesday and survived against No. 4 Oxford.
“We started off really slow, and we had a pretty good pep talk at halftime,” Mize said. “It was a Coach Mize special, and they really picked it up. Considering we were two starters, we had some people really step up.”
Boys
OXFORD 4, WHITE PLAINS 0: Top seed Oxford got a goal apiece from Kevin Martinez, Isaac Hernandez, Jeycoby Vargas and Kevin Reyes and advanced to Thursday’s championship match against No. 2 Jacksonville.
Oxford seeks its third consecutive county title.
“I’m proud of boys for continuing on and having a chance at a county championship,” Oxford coach Gersain Rodriguez said. “We kept a clean sheet. On the defensive side, we were keeping clean sheets more often. We’re doing that more often, so that’s good.”
Reyes had two assists, and Hernandez had one against White Plains.
JACKSONVILLE 8, FAITH CHRISTIAN 0: No. 2 Jacksonville got three goals from Edgar Santillan and two from Jack Thomas to advance to play top seed Oxford in Thursday’s championship match.
Jacksonville’s girls also advanced to the final, so Jacksonville coach Chelsea Mize will pull double duty Thursday. She coaches both teams.
It marks a first for Mize, who coached both teams at Weaver before moving to Jacksonville. She coached Weaver’s boys to a runner-up finish.
“We’re super excited,” Mize said. “Both of our teams are going to the championship. Thiis has been our No. 1 goal all season. Come win county and go to the playoffs and do well, and we’re on our way.”
Colin Thurman, Cooper Morgan and Judah Jennings had a goal apiece.
Santillan had three assists, and Thomas added two.
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