Stanhope Elmore girls soccer rallies past Wetumpka to win area title

Stanhope Elmore turned a halftime deficit into another championship, rallying past Wetumpka 2-1 on April 21 to claim the Class 6A Area 4 girls soccer title for a second straight season. The Mustangs trailed 1-0 at the break, then leaned on senior leadership and a switched lineup to take control in the second half.

Chloe Fultz sparked the comeback after coach Eric Peterson moved her from center back to striker, and Emily Peterson later delivered the go-ahead goal. Wetumpka had struck first, but Stanhope Elmore answered with two second-half finishes to protect the win at home and close out the area race on its own terms.

The title was decided in unusual fashion after Stanhope Elmore and Wetumpka split their regular-season meetings and finished with the same point differential. A coin flip settled the championship, and Stanhope Elmore won it, just as it did when the same tiebreaker determined the area title a year earlier. In Class 6A Area 4, which also includes Percy Julian High School, that kind of margin matters because the area crown is the gateway to the Alabama High School Athletic Association playoff path.

For Peterson, the win fit into a bigger program arc. He said winning the area was a major goal, and so was beating Prattville for the first time in program history. Stanhope Elmore reached that milestone March 19 at 17 Springs Stadium when eighth grader Aryanna Ivey scored the lone goal in a 1-0 victory over Prattville, the program’s first against the Hurricanes.

The repeat title also reflects how far the Lady Mustangs have come under Peterson. A 2025 report noted that Stanhope Elmore’s area championship that season was its first in seven years, and that the program had climbed from a three-win year to 10 wins under his leadership. Against Wetumpka, Peterson credited the resilience of his squad and pointed to younger players who stepped into key roles during a demanding stretch that included multiple top-ranked opponents.

That combination of senior production, lineup flexibility and depth has given the Millbrook program a steadier foundation. With another area championship secured and the postseason ahead, Stanhope Elmore enters the playoffs with a team identity that is becoming recognizable well beyond Autauga County.