By DREW GRANTHUM/For the Reporter

Oak Mountain came into the AHSAA 6A Girls Soccer State Championship game hoping to repeat as champions. They left with motivation for next year.

The Eagles fell to Mountain Brook, 2-0, after a match that saw the Eagles banged up by the physical play of the Spartans. Oak Mountain’s Alexandra Dunn left with a knee injury after a scrum for a ball in front of the Mountain Brook’s net, Allison Nix left the game with a possible concussion after taking a ball to the temple and Julia Buckner suffered a rib injury as well.

Flash gallery not showing up? Click here for photographer Jon Goering’s photos from the game.

The Eagles struggled to get going on offense, logging just three shots the entire game, with only on goal.

The Spartans played keep away for a good portion of the game, making sure the Eagles’ Toni Payne had as few opportunities to make a difference as possible. Even with the offensive struggles, Oak Mountain managed to keep Mountain Brook off the board until the 45-minute mark. The Spartans tacked on another at 67 minutes, and the Eagles could never mount a charge to answer.

Despite the tough loss, Coach Pete Dakis said he was optimistic about the future.

“I’m very proud of my girls,” he said. “All year long, we played tough, we played a tough schedule and they responded. We didn’t have as much experience for a big game like this. They won; they outplayed us, they outcoached us, but I’m still proud of my girls. This group of girls is already talking about what they’re going to do to come back up here.”

Payne, Madison Bigham and Megan Sweatt all had a shot logged for the Eagles. Katie Denney finished with eight saves.