By Rubin E. Grant
Junior forward Vance Phillips downplayed his two goals that brought Mountain Brook its first boys’ state soccer championship.
Phillips’ first goal tied the score 1-1 and the second one, in the second overtime, gave the Spartans a 2-1 victory against the Pelham Panthers in the Class 6A championship game last Saturday.
“They were just scrappy goals,” Phillips said after being named Class 6A MVP. “I had teammates around me, so even if I couldn’t have done it, they would have backed me up. I kind of blinked out (on the winner), put it in the goal, and it was history.”
Mountain Brook finished the season with a 25-2-2 record to claim the title during the 32nd Alabama High School Athletic Association State Soccer Championships, played at John Hunt Soccer Complex in Huntsville.
“It means a lot for those guys,” Mountain Brook coach Joe Webb said.
For most of the match, Pelham’s staunch defense and solid goalkeeper play by senior A.J. Godwin kept the Spartans scoreless.
Pelham (23-4-1), which was riding a 21-match non-losing streak, took a 1-0 lead midway through the first period when senior midfielder Cleber Esquivel delivered a perfect penalty kick into the back of the net.
The Spartans tied it when Phillips headed a loose kick into the back of the net at 69:36.
Neither team scored in the first overtime, then Phillips struck again at 88:56 – almost four minutes into the second overtime – netting the winning goal on a pass from teammate Joe Armstrong.
“We’ve fought like that all year,” said Webb, who completed his 26th season. We’re relentless. I was just worried that one goal was going to stand all game.”
Mountain Brook shutout Fort Payne 2-0 in the semifinals.
Homewood’s McBride Earns a Girls Title
Although Sean McBride had won five state championships as Homewood’s boys soccer coach, his wife, Mindy McBride, jokingly told him he wasn’t a real coach until he won one with the girls.
Well, Sean McBride can consider himself a real coach now. Junior Maddie Massie scored three goals to lead Homewood to a 4-0 victory against Northridge as the Patriots captured the Class 6A girls title.
Mindy McBride guided Homewood to its first girls title in 2019, then Sean McBride took over the girls program during the 2020 season, which was cut short because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Last year, Homewood lost to St. Paul’s Episcopal in a penalty shootout in the championship game. That loss fueled the Patriots this spring.
“It’s just the culmination of a lot of hard work,” Sean McBride said. “We talked about the pain of last year and losing in the finals and it motivated these girls every day.”
“Last year did not end the way we wanted it to,” said Massie, who was named Class 6A MVP. “This whole year, we’ve been working up for this and we’re extremely happy.”
The Patriots (20-2-2) took a 1-0 lead on a corner kick by Mary Siena McBride, the daughter of the coach, that bounced off the goal into the net at 2:37. Massie’s first goal came three minutes later to make it 2-0.
For the next 45 minutes, the teams played evenly until Massie delivered again. She scored her second goal at 50:27 on an assist from Mary Siena McBride. Massie completed the hat trick with a goal in the final minute.
Sean McBride said he wasn’t surprise by the way Massie played in the championship game.
“Maddie Massie is the type of player you don’t have to coach, you just let her play,” he said.
Homewood’s defense limited the Jaguars (19-4-1) to just three shots the entire match and no shots on goal. Meanwhile, the Patriots had 18 shots, 11 on goal.
The Patriots defeated Southside-Gadsden 5-2 in the semifinals.
Spain Park Girls End Title Drought
Spain Park’s Addy Soehn and Tatum Ahlemeyer certainly know how to work together. Soehn assisted Ahlemeyer on two goals in the first half and the Jaguars went on to win the Class 7A girls championship with a 4-0 victory over Fairhope (21-4-2).
Spain Park (14-4-4) won its first girls’ soccer state title since 2011.
The Jaguars played its best when it mattered most. They knocked off defending champion Oak Mountain 1-0 in the first round and Bob Jones 3-0 in the second round. In the semifinals on Friday, Marybeth O’Bryant scored with four seconds remaining to give Spain Park a 2-1 victory against perennial power Vestavia Hills.
“It’s the culmination of the past two to three weeks,” Spain Park coach Robert Starr said. “They put it all together. Once you get this far, you might as well finish it.”
Ahlemeyer’s two goals gave the Jags a 2-0 lead at intermission. Maddie Davis headed in a second-half goal on a pass from O’Bryant. O’Bryant scored the Jags’ final goal on a pass from Ahlemeyer. Goalkeeper Lillian Gourley recorded the shutout while making one save.
Indian Springs Boys Go Back-to-Back
Russellville uncorked 26 shots in the Class 4A-5A boys championship match, but Indian Springs goalkeeper Sims Tosh didn’t allow any of them to get past him as his team posted a 1-0 victory over the Golden Tigers.
Tosh recorded 13 saves to earn the tournament MVP award, leading Indian Springs (21-2-5) to its second straight 4A-5A title.
“Sims is quite simply the best high school-level goalkeeper you’re ever going to see,” Indian Springs coach Rik Tozzi said. “I was a professional goalkeeper in England. The ball at his feet, his composure, his ability to save, his hands – he’s got it all. And he saved us quite a lot this year. It’s not the only game.”
Indian Springs‘ Nathan Tozzi scored early in the first half and Tosh and the defense did the rest to fend off Russellville (20-3-1).
Indian Springs defeated Montgomery Academy in a penalty-kick shootout in the semifinals.
Indian Springs now has won five boys’ state titles, but this is the first time the school has done it in consecutive seasons.
“It’s a real testament to the character and intelligence of my guys,” coach Tozzi said.
Indian Springs Girls Make It a 4A-5A Sweep
Indian Springs junior Norah Roller arrived at the Class 4A-5A championship game with a clear goal: “I came into the game thinking and hoping I’d get a hat trick,” she said.
Mission accomplished. Roller scored three goals for the second straight day, leading Indian Springs (18-3-2) to a 5-0 victory over East Limestone (20-4-0) as Indian Springs won its first girls title since 2005.
“I just set my mind to it. I was like, ‘OK, I’m going to do it,’” Roller said. “I love my team. They support me much and everyone was so excited when I got a hat trick. Yeah, and we’re state champions – the first time in 17 years.”
Chloe Williams and Beth Scarborough also scored goals. Scarborough and Shadie Shrestha had assists.
Roller also had a hat trick, including the winning goal in the second half, in Indian Springs’ 4-3 semifinal victory against Saint James.