AHSAA SOCCER: MA boys knock off perennial favorite Oak Mountain for 7A championship
Montgomery Academy’s Ethan Yi battles Luke Jovanovich for a pass in the Eagles’ win in the Class 7A championship game in Huntsville. (Courtesy of AHSAA/David Holtsford)
By TIM GAYLE
HUNTSVILLE --- The Oak Mountain Eagles have certainly set the standard for boys soccer in the state of Alabama.
Since the Alabama High School Athletic Association expanded to seven classifications in 2015, Oak Mountain has compiled a 25-6 record in the postseason, only allowing a postseason opponent to score more than one goal four times in those 31 games over 10 seasons.
Montgomery Academy, a soccer program accustomed to setting its own standards, scored the biggest upset in school history by turning back the previously unbeaten 7A power in the Class 7A finals 2-1 on Saturday morning to bring the Montgomery private school its first state championship in boys soccer.
The defending 7A champion Eagles were 30-0 this season and had won 49 straight games dating back to a 1-0 loss to Huntsville in the 2023 state semifinals.
Montgomery Academy scored two quick goals over the shell-shocked Eagles -- only the second time this season a team had scored two goals against Oak Mountain, the other a 3-2 win over Hoover on April 17 -- and held on for the program’s first-ever state title in just its third trip to the finals.
Montgomery Academy scored its first goal in the eighth minute on what was ruled an Oak Mountain goal after a long kick deflected off goalkeeper Owen Wells’ hands into the back of the net. The Eagles’ second goal came less than two minutes later when Cade Segars scored on an assist by Ethan Yi.
Oak Mountain countered with a goal by Nate Taylor in the 55th minute but couldn’t come up with another goal.
For Montgomery Academy, the school’s first state championship is especially gratifying in its 10th trip to the state tournament. The Eagles have competed for years in the state’s smallest classification (1A-5A, then 1A-4A and finally 1A-3A) before Competitive Balance Factor elevated the program to 4A-5A in 2019-22, 6A in 2023 and 2024 and finally 7A this season.
Montgomery Academy, based on its enrollment, is the state’s 29th largest Class 2A program with an average daily enrollment of 183.5 students. Oak Mountain, by contrast, is the state’s 22nd largest 7A program with a daily enrollment of 1,251.15 students).
And Oak Mountain, the standard for boys soccer, ended this season with 17 shutouts and allowed just 17 goals this season. The Eagles feature an experienced team that includes 17 seniors.
Montgomery Academy (19-5-2) had advanced to the finals with a 9-1 win at home over Central-Phenix City in the first round and a 4-1 win at Auburn in the quarterfinals to advance to the state tournament in Huntsville.
The Eagles won Thursday’s semifinal game with Fairhope on a Hampton Welch kick in double overtime after ending regulation and the first ocvertime period deadlocked at 2-2.
2025 AHSAA STATE SOCCER TOURNAMENT
BOYS
CLASS 7A
Oak Mountain 2, Grissom 1
Montgomery Academy 3, Fairhope 2 (2 OT)
Finals, Montgomery Academy 2, Oak Mountain 1
CLASS 6A
Southside 3, Gardendale 2 (OT)
Spanish Fort 2, Chelsea 1
Finals, Southside 2, Spanish Fort 0
CLASS 5A
Guntersville 5, Boaz 1
Indian Springs 3, Faith Academy 1
Finals, Guntersville 2, Indian Springs 0
CLASS 4A
Oneonta 2, Mars Hill Bible 1
Westminster-Oak Mountain 1, St. Luke’s Episcopal 0
Finals, Westminster-Oak Mountain 6, Oneonta 0
CLASS 1A-3A
Collinsville 4, Susan Moore 1
Tuscaloosa Academy 5, Providence Christian 3
Finals, Collinsville 5, Tuscaloosa Academy 2
GIRLS
CLASS 7A
Vestavia Hills 2, James Clemens 1 (2 OT)
Auburn 3, McGill-Toolen 0
Finals, Vestavia Hills 3, Auburn 1
CLASS 6A
Mountain Brook 1, Southside 0
Briarwood Christian 4, Spanish Fort 1
Finals, Briarwood Christian 2, Mountain Brook 1 (2OT)
CLASS 5A
Westminster Christian 1, Springville 0 (2 OT)
St. Michael Catholic 4, Indian Springs 1
Finals, Westminster Christian 2, St. Michael 1
CLASS 4A
St. John Paul II 9, Cherokee County 0
St. Luke’s Episcopal 7, Westminster-Oak Mountain 1
Finals, St. John Paul II 3, St. Luke’s Episcopal 1
CLASS 1A-3A
Madison Academy 5, Donoho 0
Lee-Scott Academy 3, Houston Academy 1
Finals, Lee-Scott Academy 3, Madison Academy 2 (2OT)