Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

NORTH SHELBY – With their eyes set on winning back-to-back Class 1A-3A state championships, the Westminster at Oak Mountain Knights took a big step towards that goal on Tuesday, April 30 with a win in the first round of the playoffs.

Westminster defeated the Collinsville Panthers 3-0 at The Westminster School at Oak Mountain to book its place in the second round.

The Knights jumped ahead to a lead in the first half and never looked back as the earned the shutout win.

In the 22nd minute, sophomore striker Vale Richie found the back of the net to score the opener and give Westminster a 1-0 lead.

The Knights held on through the halftime break without conceding a goal to the Panthers to go into halftime up by a goal.

Once Westminster took the pitch again, it didn’t take long for the Knights and Richie to double up on their first-half performances.

Richie scored her second of the game in the 49th minute to increase the lead to 2-0.

That goal helped Westminster take further control of the match, but it wasn’t done just yet on offense.

Less than five minutes after Richie earned her brace, Adleigh Metcalf scored in the 54th minute to give the Knights an insurance goal.

Now up 3-0, Westminster saw out the victory from there to punch its ticket to the second round of the playoffs.

Richie and Metcalf each finished the match with an assist to go with their goals as both players finished with multi-point nights.

While both of the Knights goal scorers helped push them to victory, Lailie Parvin’s performance in goal was just as impressive.

The junior keeper saved all 12 of the shots she faced from Collinsville, including a penalty kick, as she went the full 80 minutes without allowing a goal to secure the clean sheet and the win.

Westminster will move on to face the Donoho Falcons in the second round on Saturday, May 4 at 5 p.m. at The Westminster School at Oak Mountain as it hopes to book a return trip to Huntsville to defend its 2023 state championship.