Photo by Erin Nelson.
Oak Mountain’s Lane Hope (22) takes a shot at the goal as the Lady Eagles face Tuscaloosa County High in a match April 11 at Oak Mountain High School.
The Oak Mountain High School girls soccer team has dominated this season, only suffering one loss in the regular season, despite facing many setbacks.
The team didn’t start the season in an ideal circumstance. Before the season started, the Lady Eagles suffered a number of injuries to key players, including one of their captains, head coach Chris Blight said.
“We’ve had to have a lot of younger girls step up in different roles when we’ve been missing people, and they’ve excelled; they’ve done great,” Blight said. “We’ve kind of rallied around the people who have been hurt and the people that have been missing, and they’ve still been really good for us. It’s hard work, but the girls are putting it in to get where we are today.”
The team’s strength so far this season has been its mentality, Blight said. He said the team culture, never getting comfortable with how they are performing together, has served the group well this season.
“We know that being No. 1 and being last year’s state champions, everyone has a little bit more of an edge to try to beat you,” Blight said. “We feel like everyone is bringing their A-game when they’re playing us, and we’ve had to step up to that. I think the mentality of never settling for where we’re at and always trying to get better every day has been really important.”
The Lady Eagles won the Class 7A state championship last year, knocking off Enterprise 5-0 in the final. That team finished the 2021 season with a record of 22-3-1.
The state title was the fourth in program history for Oak Mountain, which won three in four years from 2012-15.
With the playoffs looming as of press time, Blight said he’s been working with the team on changing the defensive and offensive formations, as well as retrieving the ball and deciding what to do with it once in possession.
“We’ve really just been working on our whole game,” he said.
Even as the playoffs approach for the Lady Eagles, the team stays in the present, taking the season “game by game,” Blight said.
“Our first goal right now is to win area. That’s obviously the most important thing we’re going to do over the next couple of weeks, but as finals come, it’s game by game,” he said. “I’ve always found that when people start to look ahead, that’s where you can slip up and lose. In 7A, there is no easy game. If we win area, we’ll be rewarded with a game against Vestavia or Spain Park, two of the best teams in the state.”
