BY DANIEL SCHMIDT
THE OBSERVER
AUBURN — Having won the Class 1A-3A state championship last year as a very young team, the Lee-Scott Academy girls soccer team looked to cement its legacy as an emerging dynasty entering this season.
The No. 3 Lady Warriors (20-4) made their case with a 1-0 win over No. 7 Whitesburg Christian (15-6-1) to claim their second-consecutive girls soccer title at Huntsville’s John Hunt Park on May 8.
LSA outshot WCA 15 to three overall, and Olivia Murchison — who did not allow a single goal during the playoffs — saved two shots.
The Lady Warriors’ run to the state championship was nothing short of remarkable. Across their 24-game schedule, LSA conceded one total goal in their final 12 games and only lost to 7A or 5A schools that made their respective playoffs.
After guiding the Lady Warriors to their third girls soccer state championship under his leadership, head coach Eric Faison said this season was unlike any other.
As an established program and a known threat to the rest of the 1A-3A competition, his players had to learn to cope with having a target on their back week in and week out.
“Last year we didn’t have a lot of pressure because we kind of came out of nowhere and nobody knew who we were, so we could surprise everybody,” Faison said. “This year, it was like everybody was out to beat us in every game we played, and we had to have a lot of mental growth to go through this season successfully. They had this pressure on them from winning last year, and they had to learn to not think about that and go out there and do what they were capable of.”
Faison said he believed a 6-0 midseason loss to 7A champion Auburn High School exposed his team’s flaws and set the tone for another state title run.
“That game was really the game where I think we learned a lot, because the first half we came out and it was like being shot in the face with a fire hose,” Faison said. “The second half is when our defense learned to adjust. I literally saw it on the field: our defense finally learned to play and shift and move together and play as a unit rather than use individual athleticism.”
As one of the team’s primary leaders and driving forces, Sarah Beth Kahn’s gritty play to keep WCS pinned back, particularly in the second half, made a noticeable difference.
According to the senior forward, it was a picture-perfect finish to an illustrious career at LSA.
“This is the best ending we could have gotten, and I loved my team so much this year and last year, we had some great chemistry,” Kahn said. “I think we knew that it wasn’t guaranteed, and so we were trying to be humble, play good, not be cocky and work hard as a team.”
After helping build the program as a player on the 2021 AISA state championship team while in seventh grade, Kahn also reflected on her time as a Lady Warrior.
“I hope that everyone thinks we left a great legacy of leadership, especially next year with our new division and playing different and bigger schools,” Kahn said. “We communicated to the team that we need to play together, be humble, always work together and not turn on each other. Hopefully they carry that into next season because we’ll need that.”
While Kahn spoke on behalf of her fellow seniors, the star of the show was again A.J. Spillman.
The freshman forward generated a game-high six shots and scored the only goal en route to being named most valuable player and securing the trophy.
“I’m just so happy and overjoyed with my team that we could come together [and win the state championship],” Spillman said. “We had a rusty first half and couldn’t really connect passes, and then we got the hang of it in the second half and really put the ball down and started making so many more chances.”
Following a physical first half stalemate that saw both teams display high-level passing, defense and decision-making, Spillman finally broke the deadlock four minutes and 47 seconds into the second half.
After collecting the ball from a throw-in near the edge of the box, she dribbled through the WCS defense, forced the goalkeeper into an initial save and toe-tapped the follow-up shot into the bottom left corner.
It was a brief but decisive moment that simultaneously displayed her ball control, holdup play and lethal finishing.
“I realized we were kind of in a corner and I was like, ‘Well, I’ve got to take this,’” Spillman said. “I was not giving up on that ball. I knew that I had to get the ball into the back of the net to steal a win. So, I just gave it everything I had to get it in the net.”
While holding on to a slim 1-0 lead, the Lady Warriors refused to let WCS get a quality chance on target and closed the game out in dominant fashion.
The championship win came after LSA defeated Tuscaloosa Academy 3-0 in the semifinals on May 7.
Charlee Huddleston recorded two goals and Anniston King added a goal of her own. Huddleston, Spillman and Kahn assisted those goals.
