AHSAA SOCCER: Montgomery Academy sweeps Stanhope Elmore to advance in 6A
MA’s Lucas Rizzo makes a move past a defender in the Eagles’ win on Thursday. (Tim Gayle)
By TIM GAYLE
The Montgomery Academy boys’ soccer team has made three consecutive trips to the state tournament, but this will be their first time competing in the Class 6A state playoffs.
The Eagles (18-2-2) continued their late-season roll with a 4-0 win over Stanhope Elmore in the first round of the 6A state playoffs at McLemore Field on Thursday.
Montgomery Academy defeated the Mustangs 3-0 in a defensive battle in early April and encountered a similar challenge in Thursday’s first-round game.
“We knew it was going to be a little tougher,” Montgomery Academy coach Matheus Mello said. “The first time we played them they were a little more compact, very defensive. Today, they changed a little bit, tried to press us. The boys weren’t expecting it. After the first goal, we started getting a little more calm and started playing our game and the game flowed a little better.
“We played well. We created chances, we just didn’t get the last touch in. But I thought we did well.”
The two teams battled for a little more than 15 minutes before the Eagles finally broke the scoreless tie with a penalty kick and added two more goals over the next six minutes to turn a 1-0 lead into a 3-0 halftime cushion but would only get one more goal the rest of the game against a determined Stanhope Elmore defense.
Montgomery Academy will travel to Wetumpka for the second round of the 6A playoffs next week, trying to maintain the momentum for a team that hasn’t lost since dropping early February losses to 7A opponents Spain Park and Oak Mountain in a Birmingham tournament.
“From the beginning of the season to now, we’re a completely different team,” Mello said. “We’re more mature. I feel like the seniors are taking a more responsible role. We’re improving every game.”
The Eagles last four years in 4A-5A have included heartbreaking losses in the state tournament to Indian Springs in 2022 (3-2) and 2021 (2-0) and on penalty kicks to Briarwood Christian in 2019 (2-1), but the road to the state tournament is even more challenging this year as Competitive Balance Factor elevated the Eagles to Class 6A.
“Actually, I’m glad we’re playing at this level,” Mello said. “For a small school like we are, the talent we have for soccer is unusual. And if you want to be the best, you’ve got to play against the best teams so that’s why I made our schedule a little harder to see how we can compete. We’ve been holding our own very well. For the size of our school, our talent is playing at the right level.
Ella Harding Pemberton dribbles past a defender in the Lady Eagles win over Stanhope Elmore on Thursday. (Tim Gayle)
MA girls blast Stanhope Elmore to advance
After making 10 consecutive trips to the state soccer tournament, four-time defending state champion Montgomery Academy’s girls soccer team suffered a stunning season-ending loss to St. James in the 4A-5A quarterfinals last season.
A newly energized, more determined Montgomery Academy team took the field for the first round of the Class 6A state playoffs, blasting Stanhope Elmore 12-0 at McLemore Field on Thursday.
“We’re definitely working together a little more and definitely have leaders on the team,” senior Hayes Jenkins said. “From the first practice this year, we’ve made it clear that we’re here to win it and we’re here to work as hard as we can.”
Montgomery Academy has won four 1A-4A state championships, three more 1A-3A titles (after 4A was joined with 5A) and two 4A-5A state championships in 2019 and 2021 (there were no playoffs in 2020 because of COVID). The one postseason setback over the last decade was the stunning loss to the Trojans, an opponent that had the one quality that MA seemed to be lacking.
“We had great players but not the cohesion,” second-year coach Tate Dean said. “I knew the quality would be there. Having the balance between younger girls and older girls (is important), but then having the cohesiveness was a big key this year. Having girls that were big leaders this year and the ability to control the group and push the group was really key. We struggled in those areas last year. I think we had the quality to win it, but there were other factors.
“A lot of our girls, Hayes and the other seniors, had never lost a playoff game. I think it became easy for them and the only real competition was St. James, a great team. Now we know what it feels like to lose it and now we have to go out and prove it.”
And they’ll have to prove it in a bigger world. The small 2A private school was boosted to 4A-5A for four years and now to 6A by Competitive Balance Factor, getting tossed into a classification where larger schools such as Homewood and Mountain Brook have been winning at girls’ soccer for years.
“When we play 6A and 7A schools, they have juniors and seniors that are big, 6-foot, athletic girls,” Dean said. “We don’t have as many tall athletic girls, we have a lot of physically younger, mentally younger girls, so we have to have that focus on the technical ability and the will to win. If you’ve got the will to win with some technical ability, you can stay in the fight with anybody.”
Until this year, Montgomery Academy soccer players never really paid a lot of attention to 6A programs.
“When we were in 4A, we were like, ‘Oh, it’s just 6A,’ but now that we’re here, we’re paying attention,” Jenkins said. “We can see a change in the competition, for sure, but our coaches schedule hard games to prepare us for this. Our area isn’t as competitive, but we know when we get to second (round), third (round) and hopefully from there on, it’s going to be a tough, competitive match. But I think we’re ready for it and we’re prepared.”
The Eagles are 14-3-1 after beating the Mustangs on Thursday, with all three losses to 7A programs. From here on out, there are no easy playoff rounds, but Dean believes his team is prepared for what it will face in the coming weeks.
“We had a lot of area games last year in 4A-5A,” Dean said. “We had eight area games and now we only have two teams in our area, which is four area games, so we had to add teams to our schedule. We tried to play as many good teams as possible. We played Oak Mountain, Hoover and Hewitt-Trussville, all 7As, so we put ourselves in position where we can compete with the biggest and the best schools in the state. It’s not going to be an easy road to a state championship, but there’s no reason we can’t do it. We have enough quality and depth on the team to go all the way.”
AHSAA State Soccer Tournament First Round results
CLASS 6A GIRLS
CLASS 6A
Gadsden City (7-8-2) 3, Hartselle (9-6-0) 2
Mortimer Jordan (14-4-0) 13, Huffman (2-8-1) 0
Homewood (19-5-1) 10, Shades Valley (8-6-0) 0
Parker (4-2-1) at Mountain Brook (12-4-1)
Pike Road (9-4-1) 3, Wetumpka (9-7-3) 0
Montgomery Academy (13-2-1) 12, Stanhope Elmore (4-10-0) 0
Robertsdale at Saraland
Spanish Fort (20-1-2) 10, Theodore (1-9-0) 0
CLASS 6A BOYS
Homewood (16-4-2) 6, Pell City (14-5-0) 0
Mountain Brook (17-2-4) 10, Parker (3-6) 0
Wetumpka (16-4-0) 4, Pike Road 2
Montgomery Academy (17-2-1) 4, Stanhope Elmore (6-8-6) 0
Murphy (3-5) at Spanish Fort (15-5-0)