Spain Park Leads Alabama State Title Runs.
They wrapped 20 more wins around a 1-1 draw against Grissom to win the 6A girls state championship. The title came with a 4-0 win over McGill Toolen. Spain Park finished 23-1-3, while McGill-Toolen was 16-5-1).
Sophomore forward Annalika Steyn, who had a pair of hat tricks in the playoffs, was named the Class 6A Most Valuable Player after burying the game’s opening goal nine minutes into the championship finale.
Fairhope Boys In Overtime
After an emotional victory over Hoover in the boys Class 6A semifinals, Mountain Brook’s gas tank was running on empty. The Spartans (24-5-2) played Fairhope to a 0-0 draw in regulation in the championship game, but came up short in overtime.
Fairhope’s Chad Dolan got the game-winner for the Pirates with 3:29 left in the first OT, making Fairhope (25-2-3) the first Mobile public school boys team to win an Alabama state soccer title. Pirates senior Kyle Sherin was named MVP.
Back-To-Back Titles
John Carroll Catholic made it two-in-a-row in boys state 5A championships with a 2-0 win over the Briarwood Lions.
Andrew O’Connor and Reed Matte scored the goals for John Carroll, 28-3-1 on the season. Matte was named the 5A MVP. Briarwood (18-5-4) also lost in the state final to the Cavaliers last season.
Mobile Gets A Girls Title
St. Paul’s Episcopal (16-6) became the first Mobile girls team to win an Alabama state soccer title with a 4-0 win over Fort Payne HS (14-8-1).
St. Paul’s built a 3-0 lead on goals by seniors Kristin McElroy and Challey Legg (2), before the game was halted for an hour as a thunderstorm passed over John Hunt Park in Huntsville. Legg was named the Class 5A MVP.
Alexander, Bolvig Lead Altamont
Jonathan Alexander and Petersen Bolvig scored a pair of goals each in the Class 4A-1A championship game to lead Altamont (14-7-4) to a 5-1 victory over Jacksonville (15-3-1).
Although the Knights’ offense scored nine goals in the two state tournament games, defender Simon Bisilico picked up the game’s MVP award. The Knights defeated LAMP, 4-1 in the semifinals.
“He’s our center back and he’s rock solid,” said Altamont coach Sean Gibson.
Once-Beaten Randolph Wins
Altamont (15-2-0) was looking for a sweep of Class 1A-4A state soccer titles, but Randolph’s third-ranked Raiders took home the girls championship with a 1-0 win over the #2 Knights.
Senior Amanda Morris scored the game-winner for Randolph (19-1-1) at the 17-minute mark in the second half. Altamont finished the season 15-2-0. Morris was named the Class 1A-4A Most Valuable Player, and it came on her 18th birthday. The championship was the first for the Randolph girls program.
“We’ve been knocking at the door and we finally got it,” said Randolph coach Marvin Chou, whose girls program has often been compared to Randolph’s highly successful boys team.
“It’s a great step hopefully toward more (championships) in the future.”