Lion soccer teams advance to state finals
HUNTSVILLE — Both of Briarwood Christian School’s soccer teams will try to add another blue-map trophy to their cases, as the girls and boys each won their way Thursday into the AHSAA Class 5A state championship matches at John Hunt Park.
GIRLS: Briarwood Christian 6, Faith Academy 1
Sarah Adcock scored four goals, three of them in the first 12 minutes after halftime, as the Briarwood girls rolled to a 6-1 win over Faith Academy.
Sarah Adcock put the Lions on the scoreboard in the fourth minute of the game, and her older sister Maggie added another goal in the 32nd minute to give Briarwood a 2-0 lead at intermission.
But after the break, Sarah Adcock went on a tear, scoring a second-half hat trick in only 12 minutes. Her first goal came just 18 seconds after the half kicked off. Maggie Adcock assisted on the last goal by her sister.
“She [Sarah] has scored over 40 goals this season, and has been our go-to girl up front,” coach Ryan Leib said.
Grace Harris also scored for the Lions in the 48th minute, and Rebecca Wolfe added an assist.
Lions goalkeeper Caroline Duffee had two saves in the match. The lone Faith goal came from the foot of Gracie East 10 minutes from the end of the match.
“That’s a testament to our defense,” Leib said.
Briarwood (14-5-3) will face St. John Paul II Catholic in the finals Friday at 5 p.m., as the Lions seek their ninth state championship in program history.
“They’re a good team, and it will be difficult,” Leib said.
BOYS: Briarwood Christian 2, Andalusia 0
The Lions boys recorded a shutout in their semifinal playoff, with both of their goals coming in quick succession early in the second half.
Logan Frost broke a scoreless tie by scoring three minutes after intermission, off an assist by Griffin Fenton. That score was followed two minutes later by a goal from Hamilton Bowen.
“The big stage of being at state with 10 freshmen on this team had an effect,” coach Shawn Brower said. “They flipped a switch after halftime, and they never really looked back. It was a game with two different halves, and the second half was never in question after the first five minutes. We could’ve had a couple more goals.”
That spurt was all Briarwood needed, as goalkeeper Grant Fielding kept a clean scoresheet for the match with just two saves, largely due to a defensive back line that kept the ball out of its half of the field for much of the match.
“Our guys in the back and through the middle just battled all night,” Brower said.
The Lions (17-5-3) will take on Randolph School in the championship match on Friday at 7 p.m. The Raiders blanked Sylacauga 3-0 in the semifinals to earn a berth in the title game.
“Randolph has been ranked No. 1 all year. This will be a bit like David and Goliath in the Bible. And like David, we're going to run to them,” Brower said.
If Briarwood prevails, it will be their fifth state championship. The last came in 2013, when Brower — who is also the school’s principal — had 13 seniors on the squad.
“Our average grade level on this team is 9.8,” Brower said. “But at this point in the season, they’re not really freshmen anymore.”