Adcock’s unreal 6-goal performance lifts Briarwood to state title

Published 9:57 pm Friday, May 12, 2017

By ALEC ETHEREDGE | Sports Editor

HUNTSVILLE – A four-goal semifinal performance wasn’t enough for Briarwood senior Sarah Adcock, so she had to one up that by having a performance for the history books in the biggest soccer game of her young career.

In the state championship game against St John Paull II on Friday, May 12, she followed up her strong first game in the Final Four with a six-goal performance in the championship game as she was responsible for all six of the Lions goal in a 6-0 route to win their ninth blue map.

“I’m glad we have Sarah Adcock on our team,” Briarwood head coach Ryan Leib said after the incredible win and performance. “It’s so fun to win ya know. Just to see the girls work hard and accomplish this was so much fun.”

The Lions picked up right where they left off the day before in the semifinals as both of the Adcock twins, Sarah and Maggie, had several break away opportunities in the first 10 minutes of action.

It was evident early on that Sarah was going to have a special night as she had three of the four breakaways in that 10-minute time span.  But like the semifinal game, the Lions saw several chances go to waste as they couldn’t find the back of the net.

“It wasn’t that good in the first half, but we were able to persevere through it and kept fighting,” Leib said.

That was until Sarah finally took advantage of one of her many chances by grabbing the ball off an inbounds corner kick about 10 yards to the right of the penalty box. She reared back and bent a beautiful shot into the upper 90 to give the Lions a 1-0 lead 20 minutes into the game.

The game became quiet again over the next 15 minutes, before Sarah broke free for her second goal of the game. She grabbed the ball about 10 yards outside of the penalty box before carrying it in and firing a rocket into the lower left side of the goal to put Briarwood up 2-0 at the break.

“Having a goal scorer like her you can count on is so important to a championship team,” Leib said of his leading scorer. “That’s why strikers make so much money in the pros because you have to have that person that can score.”

Briarwood didn’t let up with the 2-0 lead in the second half and after a solid first 15 minutes of the half defensively they got another offensive look. Blaire Shimer was able to break away up the right hand side and somehow Sarah slipped into the box unnoticed and was able to get the ball to slide under the goalkeeper’s right arm into the left side of the net off of the Shimer assist.

“She just knows how to sneak behind defenses and find the ball, she’s relentless,” Leib said of her evasiveness.

It didn’t take much longer to before she used her evasive superpower again and broke away down the middle of the field to pick up her fourth goal of the game to put the Lions up 4-0 with 17:25 to play.

With a good chunk of time left on the clock, Sarah had already tied her game total from the night before and she wasn’t done showing off just yet.

She added two more goals in the final 7:42 of play to bring her game total to six and her Final Four total to 10 against some of the state’s best talent.

“She’s been doing it all season and it’s become the norm for us,” Leib said. “It is also a credit to her teammates that always seem to find her in those crucial moments where she is open. It was just an unbelievable performance.”

Briarwood ended the season 14-5-3 and as Class 4A/5A state champs, while Sarah ended her strong Lion career with a memory she will never forget.

More photos available at www.shelbycountyphotos.com