New Albany Bulldogs

History was made for the Lady Bulldogs, and Saturday features several firsts for the young squad.
Never has the girls’ soccer team made it to the second round of the playoffs, but that will change after New Albany defeated Lewisburg, 2-0, in Tuesday’s first round.
“This is very big for our program,” coach Les Huntington said.

 A young New Albany squad played a competitive first half against Belmont, but were plagued by fouls and turnovers, resulting in a 66-46 win for the Lady Cardinals on Saturday.

Behind 10 first quarter points from Jazmine Spears, New Albany held an 18-10 lead after the opening frame, but Belmont slowly worked its way back in, as Elisiah Jones tied the game at 24 and Angelia Allen gave the Lady Cardinals the lead shortly after.

A pair of area soccer standouts have signed national letters of intent to play for the Itawamba Community College programs next season.
The Lady Indians signed New Albany midfielder Randi Stevens while the Indians picked up goalkeeper Will Pearson of Pontotoc.

 For two players, their senior year at the Union County tournament was about redemption.

On the girls’ side, Aspriona Gilbert and Myrtle snapped a three-year losing streak to New Albany to claim its first title since 2008. The UCT has become accustomed to this match-up, and the 58-36 win improved the Lady Hawks’ perfect record to 21-0.

“I feel like I did back when we finally beat them after a while,” Gilbert said. “It feels real good.”