Jets complete undefeated run through District 6AA

Throw records out the door when these two soccer teams meet.

Needing only one more win to go undefeated in district play for the first time in school history, the Cumberland County Jets hosted their most familiar foe Friday night in the Stone Memorial Panthers.

CCHS defended their home field, defeating the Panthers on penalty kicks.

“Stone played really well,” said CCHS coach Cub Whitson. “I’m always impressed with (Michael) Husbands. He had a great game plan for us.

“We played through adversity. We had several starters out with cramps and a few injuries, and they still found a way to win the game with those odds against us.”

The game was a stalemate through regulation as the teams were tied 2-2.

Stone Memorial opened strong as Guillermo Valasco found the back of the net in the opening five minutes to give SMHS the 1-0 lead.

CCHS tied the contest at 1-1 via Aiden Zeino connecting on a free kick outside the box.

Drew Davidson put the Jets ahead 2-1 right before half via an assist from Zeino.

Stone Memorial wouldn’t go away as they tied the contest via a Stone Boston goal, making the score 2-2.

“They definitely rose to the occasion,” added Whitson on SMHS. “They out-possessed us. We knew it was going to be a game.”

After two scoreless overtime periods, the fate of the game came down to the performance of senior goalkeeper Elijah Tollett, who kept three of the four Panther kicks out of the net for the win.

Cumberland County connected on three of their kicks to win the contest.

“I was very confident,” said Whitson going into the penalty kicks.

“We have a lot of senior leadership.”

The night saw an individual record set at Cumberland County too as Davidson set the single-season goal record with 26 and counting.

The Jets defeated all four District 6AA opponents (Stone Memorial, Livingston Academy, Upperman and DeKalb County) to secure the No. 1 seed in the upcoming district tournament.

The Jets will host Rockwood on Tuesday and travel to Hixson on Thursday.

Stone Memorial will host district foe DeKalb County on Tuesday and travel to Grace Christian on Thursday.

The District 6AA tournament will start on Monday, May 6, with the No. 4 vs. No. 5 play-in game. The Jets will face the winner of that game in the semifinal round.