Briarwood advances to Class 6A State Championship behind Leib’s hat trick
Published 4:23 pm Thursday, May 8, 2025
The Briarwood girls soccer team took down Spanish Fort on Thursday, May 8 in the semifinals of the Class 6A playoffs to advance to the state championship and earn a rematch with Mountain Brook. (Reporter photo/Alec Etheredge)
|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
By ALEC ETHEREDGE | Managing Edit
HUNTSVILLE – The Briarwood Lions will officially get their shot at redemption on Saturday, May 10 after taking down Spanish Fort in the semifinals of the Class 6A playoffs on Thursday, May 8.
A hat trick from Taylor Leib and four total goals were more than enough for the Lions who took a 4-0 lead early in the second half to create plenty of separation in what became a 4-1 victory to advance to the state championship for a redemption matchup with Mountain Brook.
The first few minutes of the game saw Spanish Fort get some early possessions on the offensive end of the field, but the Toros never could capitalize.
Steadily, Briarwood started to get into a rhythm and took control, pushing the pace.
That effort paid off 16:13 into the game when Leib got her first of the three goals in the game. After getting some pressure just outside of the box, a pass to Leib gave her a strong look as she buried it into the lower left corner for the 1-0 advantage.
Briarwood continued to put pressure on Spanish Fort’s defenders, but the Lions never could push another across in the half, while the Toros let three good opportunities slip away in the final 15 minutes of the half.
Holding a 1-0 advantage early in the second half, Briarwood capitalized on playing with the lead, burying two early second-half goals.
The Lions got two goals within the first six minutes of the period, starting with another great pass, this time to Zoey Eighmy, who buried an easy look for the 2-0 lead 1:37 into the half.
Less than four minutes later, Leib earned a penalty kick and put another in the back of the net to make it 3-0.
All of a sudden, Briarwood had a comfortable lead to work with, but it wasn’t enough.
A short 10 minutes later, Leib earned another PK, again burying it in the back of the net for what became a 4-0 advantage with 24:46 to play.
That was more than enough for Briarwood, as Spanish Fort could only find one goal down the stretch in the 4-1 win for the Lions.
Madison Bell and Brooklyn Barnett each had an assist in the win, while Leib’s three goals and Eighmy’s one goal set the tone offensively. Catherine Walker had four saves in goal for the Lions.
Now, for the second year in a row, Briarwood will get a shot at Mountain Brook, who won last year’s title 2-0 over the Lions.
More 280 Reporter
-
-
-
Polls
Loading ...
