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By Carey Reeder | Managing Editor

Chilton County High School got its 2025 soccer campaigns underway on Feb. 6 and welcomed in another season with new and familiar faces on both squads.

Soccer has continued to grow rapidly at CCHS with more people investing time and money into the program. The school has established the Tiger Soccer Club, a fundraising booster club dedicated solely to the CCHS soccer programs. This year’s tryouts were among the biggest and most competitive the program has had, and the hopes are to add a junior varsity girls team, a middle school boys team and a freshman boys team in the coming seasons to give more opportunities to students to play the beautiful game.

Led by head coach Brandon Gurganus and assistant coaches Ricky Conte and Josh Elmore, the varsity boys staff was tasked with replacing 16 seniors and only returning four varsity players from the 2024 team. This year’s team is led by a handful of seniors — Brandon Alcala, Diego Orta and Cristian Zurita, and some juniors — Jesus Centeno, Mateo Hinojosa and Danh Mai, but also has some talent from last year’s junior varsity squad that are looking to establish themselves at the varsity level this season.

“We have a veteran team — We just do not have a ton of on the field varsity level experience,” Gurganus said. “The team has gelled in the preseason, and while the individual talent may not be what it was over the past couple of years, these guys play unselfishly as a unit. Hopefully that will lead to success on the pitch.”

The Tigers got their season kicked off on Feb. 6 traveling to Lincoln High School for the season opener that saw the varsity boys claim the win with a second-half winner. Goalkeeper Brody Scurlock made a diving save on an Lincoln free kick a few minutes into the match as CCHS battled through some early nerves. The nerves were completely put to bed when midfielder Centeno was fouled inside the box and earned a penalty kick for CCHS. The junior slotted the subsequent kick past the Lincoln keeper to give the Tigers the 1-0 lead.

CCHS controlled possession for the remainder of the first half, but the tide turned with 45 seconds remaining in the opening half as Lincoln was awarded their own penalty kick and converted it to go into halftime 1-1. The Tigers continued to control possession in the second half until Zurita found a break through for CCHS and banged the winner home off an assist from Jordy Valdivia for the 2-1 win.

“We are an inexperienced group, and while we made a few mistakes and definitely didn’t play our best soccer, it’s always great to get a win in your first match,” Gurganus said.

The varsity girls team has a unique blend of veteran talent with some stellar young players that could make for a beautiful mix on the field once things come together fully. Coaches Ricky Conte and Hayden Hicks have three seniors — Kaylee Moore, Hannah Seebeck and Marynn Vaith to look towards for leadership, as well as juniors Charleigh Hicks and Julianna Romero. The squad has a great attitude about the opportunity to grow throughout this season and beyond with the young talent, and it was on display against Lincoln on Feb. 6.

The Tigers broke through first with one of the young talents Mary Thornhill rocketing a shot into the goal off an assist from Romero. Lincoln grabbed a lead with two goals later in the first half to lead 2-1 at halftime. However, Romero and Thornhill connected again just five minutes after the halftime break as the junior’s ball found Thornhill’s foot again for the equalizer. Hicks and the CCHS defense hung tough against a formidable Lincoln attack all game, but the hosts bagged a winner later in the second half for the 3-2 win.

The varsity girls will have a chance to bounce back right away at the Capital of Dreams High School Classic in Montgomery from Feb. 7-8 with three games over the two days against Montgomery Catholic School and Pike Road and Wetumpka High Schools. The CCHS junior varsity boys team will also be competing at the Capital of Dreams High School Classic.

The home opener for CCHS will be on Feb. 11 as the teams host LAMP High School inside Tiger Stadium with the varsity girls kicking off at 5:30 p.m. and the varsity boys to follow after.