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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

ALABASTER – The Thompson Warriors are both heading on to the postseason after a pair of big wins over the Tuscaloosa County Wildcats finished off area play on a big note.

Thompson’s girls defeated Tuscaloosa County 10-0 on Tuesday, April 22 at Warrior Stadium after the boys kicked off the night with a 6-0 win over the Wildcats.

The girls’ win capped off a perfect 6-0 run through Class 7A, Area 5 after they had already clinched the area title in their April 8 win over Prattville.

The boys, however, needed to better Prattville’s area goal differential to win the area title, which did not happen after the Lions defeated Hillcrest-Tuscaloosa 7-0, ensuring the teams would remain in their respective positions in the table.

The girls rolled to victory behind a big night from Luna Montiel-Duenas. She finished with four goals and an assist on the night to lead the way for the offense.

She wasn’t the only one to finish with multiple goals as Charli Gantt and Lexi Gabucci each had two goals in the game to secure a brace. Gabucci also added an assist to her total.

Nathalie Gonzalez and Guilia Wekesa rounded out the scoring with a goal apiece, with Gonzalez also assisting on another goal.

The buildup to those goals was more varied than who finished them off as eight different Warriors earned an assist on the 10 goals. Alaina Simpson and Dia Montiel-Duenas got involved on multiple goals as they each earned two assists against the Wildcats.

In addition, Carlie Mills, Olivia Pascal and Megan Townsend also earned assists alongside goalscorers Luna Montiel-Duenas, Gonzales and Gabucci.

Thompson’s defense also made sure to keep its end of the pitch clean of any goals as it secured a shutout ahead of the mercy-rule victory.

The boys came into their match hot off the heels of a 3-1 win over Stanhope Elmore. Drew Toth got the scoring going in that match with a deep shot off an assist from Colton Burnett for his second goal of the season.

From there, Brayden Herrera scored off a corner from Aram Arreola before Dylan Huerta finished off the win with a play in the box from Dylan Ruiz and Burnett.

As for the game against Tuscaloosa County, Emanuel Rodriguez kicked off the action with his first goal of the season, scoring off a free kick to put the Warriors up 1-0.

Yair Santana then generated a chance off a throw-in when Dylan Huerta flicked the ball to Arreola, who finished off the shot for a goal. Senior captain Erick Huerta then scored in what could be his final home game at Warrior Stadium for the 3-0 lead.

After that, Dylan Huerta took care of the rest. He scored his first goal of the match off an Arreola corner kick and soon took another pass from Arreola on the run to secure his second score.

Finally, he made a run in behind the play and got on the end of an early cross from Christian McLaughlin to finish off the hat trick and the 6-0 win.

The girls finished area play with a 16-5-1 overall record, 6-0 mark in area play and the No. 8 rank in the coaches poll. As for the boys, they are also the No. 8 team in Class 7A with a 15-7-1 record and 5-1 record in area play.

Both teams will wrap up the regular season on the road at the Auburn High School Tigers on Friday, April 25. The girls will play the defending state champions at 4 p.m. ahead of a 6 p.m. boys game at Duck Samford Stadium.

After that, both teams will face the Oak Mountain Eagles in the first round of the Class 7A playoffs. The boys will hit the road to undefeated Oak Mountain on Monday, April 28 at 7 p.m. before the girls play host to the Eagles on Tuesday, April 29 at 7 p.m. at Warrior Stadium.