Todd ThompsonMadison Record
Top-ranked Guntersville scored all of its goals in the first half to beat Madison Academy 3-1 in the second round of the Class 1A-4A state playoffs Friday afternoon.Madison Academy’s lone goal came in the 78th minute when Alex Haas scored to end Guntersville’s shutout bid.Madison Academy finished its season with a 15-2-1 record with both losses coming to teams that were ranked No. 1 in the state at the time.The Guntersville win ended Madison Academy’s five-game winning streak. Guntersville advanced to the 1A-4A state tournament at the Huntsville Soccer Complex in John Hunt Park. The Lady Wildcats, 16-3-1 overall, were scheduled to face sixth-ranked Indian Springs this morning.Guntersville has reached the state semifinals three times in the last five years. The Lady Wildcats won a state championship in 2008.Guntersville scored the game’s first goal midway through the opening half when Grace Hembree beat Madison Academy’s keeper for the 1-0 lead.The goal was the first allowed by Madison Academy since a 1-0 loss to Randolph April 9. The Lady Mustangs had shut out 10 opponents this season – going 9-0-1 in those games.The Lady Wildcats added a goal from Emma Jones on a corner kick with four minutes left in the half.Guntersville’s final goal of the game came just over a minute later when Carlye Bice took a loose ball and scored on another corner kick.