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Photo by Sarah Owens
Briarwood women's soccer beat Mountain Brook in Class 6A Girls soccer state championships on May 10, 2025. Photo by Sarah Owens
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Photo by Sarah Owens
Briarwood women's soccer beat Mountain Brook in Class 6A Girls soccer state championships on May 10, 2025. Photo by Sarah Owens
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Photo by Sarah Owens
Briarwood women's soccer beat Mountain Brook in Class 6A Girls soccer state championships on May 10, 2025. Photo by Sarah Owens
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Photo by Sarah Owens
Briarwood women's soccer beat Mountain Brook in Class 6A Girls soccer state championships on May 10, 2025. Photo by Sarah Owens
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Photo by Sarah Owens
Briarwood women's soccer beat Mountain Brook in Class 6A Girls soccer state championships on May 10, 2025. Photo by Sarah Owens
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Photo by Sarah Owens
Briarwood women's soccer beat Mountain Brook in Class 6A Girls soccer state championships on May 10, 2025. Photo by Sarah Owens
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Photo by Sarah Owens
Briarwood women's soccer beat Mountain Brook in Class 6A Girls soccer state championships on May 10, 2025. Photo by Sarah Owens
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Photo by Sarah Owens
Briarwood women's soccer beat Mountain Brook in Class 6A Girls soccer state championships on May 10, 2025. Photo by Sarah Owens
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Photo by Sarah Owens
Briarwood women's soccer beat Mountain Brook in Class 6A Girls soccer state championships on May 10, 2025. Photo by Sarah Owens
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Photo by Sarah Owens
Briarwood women's soccer beat Mountain Brook in Class 6A Girls soccer state championships on May 10, 2025. Photo by Sarah Owens
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Photo by Sarah Owens
Briarwood women's soccer beat Mountain Brook in Class 6A Girls soccer state championships on May 10, 2025. Photo by Sarah Owens
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Photo by Sarah Owens
Briarwood women's soccer beat Mountain Brook in Class 6A Girls soccer state championships on May 10, 2025. Photo by Sarah Owens
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Photo by Sarah Owens
Briarwood women's soccer beat Mountain Brook in Class 6A Girls soccer state championships on May 10, 2025. Photo by Sarah Owens
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Photo by Sarah Owens
Briarwood women's soccer beat Mountain Brook in Class 6A Girls soccer state championships on May 10, 2025. Photo by Sarah Owens
HUNTSVILLE – “Dig deep.”
That’s what Briarwood Christian School girls soccer coach Ryan Leib told his team throughout the second of half of the Class 6A state championship game Saturday morning at John Hunt Park in Huntsville.
Finally, his team’s efforts came to fruition. Briarwood scored the game-tying goal with under two minutes remaining in regulation, and the Lions won a penalty shootout to secure the program’s first state title since 2017.
Briarwood’s 2-1 win looked all but hopeless until the late moments. Taylor Matthews scored in the 79th minute to knot the game at 1-1. After two scoreless overtime periods, the Lions won the penalty shootout 4-1, as Taylor Leib’s shot into the back of the net sent her team into a frenzied celebration.
“It’s the best feeling you could have,” she said following the game.
In a rematch of last year’s state final, Mountain Brook’s Langston Lilly got her team on the board first, scoring on a set piece in the eighth minute.
Freshman goalkeeper Catherine White was a force from then on, making seven saves in the game and stopping two Mountain Brook shots in the shootout. She was named the state tournament MVP with her performance.
“A freshman coming up big, I don’t know what to say except that’s amazing. I’m so proud of her,” Taylor Leib said.
It was the final time father and daughter will be on the field as coach and player, Ryan Leib coaching his daughter and Clemson signee Taylor. As fate would have it, her final moment as a Lions player was the game-winning goal.
“You can’t put into words how special it is when your daughter does that and to have that moment together,” Ryan Leib said.
Ryan Leib was also greeted by a shower of water bottles after the game, the perfect conclusion to a cool, damp day.
Briarwood advanced to the state final with a 4-1 win over Spanish Fort on Thursday. Taylor Leib notched a hat trick in the contest, scoring three goals. Zoey Eighmy scored the other goal.
The Lions were dominant in their run to the state finals, pitching three shutouts to get back to Huntsville. Briarwood knocked off Helena (8-0), Spain Park (1-0 in overtime) and Northridge (2-0) to reach the semifinals.
Briarwood finishes the year with a 15-7 record, with seniors Madison Bell, Taylor Leib and Brooklyn Barnett capping off stellar careers with the program. Over the last four years, the Lions have progressed from not making the playoffs, losing in the state semifinals, losing in the state final and capping it off with a championship win.
The win is the 10th state title in program history.
