Stewart, Hoffman lead North to victory

Published 3:04 pm Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Two of Shelby County’s top soccer players stood out in the North-South All-Star games Tuesday, leading the North to a doubleheader sweep at John Hunt Park in Huntsville.

Indian Springs all-purpose player Betsy Stewart and Oak Mountain forward Chandler Hoffman each earned MVP honors for the North as the they led the North girls’ and boys’ teams past the South, 6-1 and 4-1, respectively.

“It was a lot of fun to play with everyone. We had more chemistry than we thought we would,” Stewart said.

Stewart led the North with two assists from the left side of the midfield. She added a goal late in the game after sliding up to play center forward.

Christen Sims of Bob Jones impressed Stewart the most with two goals to lead the North.

“She was great at getting around people. She was definitely needed in every single goal scoring opportunity,” Stewart said.

Leslie Kirk of Austin also had two goals, while Elizabeth Conard of Huntsville had one.

The North boys’ fell behind 1-0 early, but Hoffman found Grissom’s Patrick Huang with just under 16 minutes left in the first half to tie the game.

“It was fun to actually play together instead of against each other on the same field,” said Hoffman of joining sides with players from Grissom and Spain Park. Oak Mountain beat Grissom in the quarterfinals of the state playoffs and Spain Park in the semifinals en route to a state championship in May.

Hoffman, who was named the All-State Player of the Year earlier this month, gave the North the lead with 2:11 left in the half on a penalty kick. He added a second goal in the second half.

Spain Park’s Carey Davis assisted the North’s third goal, which was scored by Kevin White.

Also playing in the game were Stefan Vaziri and Cody Martin of Oak Mountain, Hudson Jetton of Spain Park, Jonathon Antonetti of Chelsea and Chip Elmer of Briarwood.