By Sports Editor Andrew Simonson
Girls soccer in Shelby County had an outstanding season overall, with many of those victories being driven by excellent coaching.
Ultimately, two individuals stood out as deserving of Shelby County Coaches of the Year recognition: Joe Randal of the Westminster School at Oak Mountain Knights and Ryan Leib of the Briarwood Christian Lions, who are sharing the honor for the second consecutive year.
In 2025, Leib made it to the summit of Class 6A, but it had taken years to get there. He guided Briarwood to the 2023 Final Four, where they lost to Montgomery Academy in a penalty shootout, following a dismal 2022 campaign.
The Lions advanced a step the next year, defeating Massachusetts in the Final Four but falling short against Mountain Brook in the state title game. For Leib and a senior class, winning a state championship was the only thing left to do.
With nine starters back from that runner-up squad, Leib had the program’s future and current stars in ideal alignment. But that left a number of choices to be made, including filling in the defense and midfield.
The Lions’ defensive leader, Erin Gilbert, created that back line void. To help hold down the defensive line, Leib looked to two younger players: sophomore Mallon Sigler and junior Saylor Eighmy.
Throughout the season, both of them started at centerback and developed into key members of the defense. Briarwood finished the season with a perfect 8-0-0 record, giving up just three goals in the final eight games, with the two of them leading in the back.
The team punched a ticket to Huntsville by recording shutouts in each of the first three playoff games against Helena, Spain Park, and Northridge.
Brooklyn Barnett, a striker, was moved into the defensive midfield by Leib as a creative solution to the second hole. The Lions ran the danger of losing her 20 goals and 13 assists from the 2024 campaign as a result of this shift, which would lower the offense’s scoring rate.
But in reality, the change improved Briarwood.
Anchoring the middle and assisting the squad in realizing its full potential, Barnett excelled in the CDM position. She concluded the 2025 season with 15 goals and 14 assists, so her attacking numbers were little affected either.
With 12 goals and nine assists, sophomore Taylor Matthews took her position, expanding her role in the offense and acting as a running mate for Taylor Leib, a longtime offensive danger.
It wasn’t all sunshine and roses for the Lions, even if Briarwood employed those strategies to build a state championship team.
Briarwood fell behind the playoff pace due to some difficult losses brought on by a harsh early schedule. The Lions lost both of their regular season games against Spain Park because they were unable to match the Jags’ speed. They also fell against Chelsea 1-0 in the middle of the area play.
They were only 7-7 on the season and 2-3 in area play after their second defeat to Spain Park on April 8. But Briarwood needed a victory to get back into the postseason picture before playing the Jags away.
In that match, Briarwood scored a goal from Matthews in the 33rd minute after banging on the door throughout the first half. Importantly, the Lions maintained a clean sheet, and Ava Hoaglund scored a second goal in the 71st minute.
They defeated Spain Park 5-3 on the road before defeating Pelham in the area final, which put them in a position to qualify for the playoff stages.
The outcome turned out to be the pivotal moment. Following the setback to the Jags, Briarwood went undefeated for the remainder of the season, fighting for two shootout victories and scoring four goals or more in each of the final three regular season games.
Even Leib wasn’t certain that Briarwood could win a state championship during their early season slump, but his guidance enabled them to overcome the obstacle and continue on to Huntsville.
After Briarwood defeated Northridge to advance to the Final Four, Leib remarked, “This was a goal for us at the beginning of the season, and for a little while there, mid-season, it wasn’t looking like it was going to happen. The girls have really come together and we’ve been playing our best soccer lately.”
Their perseverance ultimately paid off as they defeated Mountain Brook in the last minutes of the state championship game and won a penalty shootout behind rookie goalie Catherine Walker, giving them a second consecutive season of revenge wins in Huntsville.
After winning the state title, Leib remarked, “These girls didn’t quit and kept fighting.” That is our desired focus.
Westminster OM was another team that fought all season long.
Joe Randal helped the Knights turn around their season by leading a Westminster OM team with just one senior in a new classification to finish above.500, win an area title, and go to the Class 4A Final Four. (Photo by Andrew Simonson, reporter)
After suffering heartbreak in their penultimate season—a quarterfinal loss to Donoho that destroyed their hopes of capturing back-to-back state titles—the Knights started the season in a different division.
Furthermore, Lailie Parvin was the only senior goalie Westminster had going into the season. This meant that during a critical transition year to Class 4A, several juniors, like Vale Richie and Miller Grace Waites, had to assume leadership roles within the squad.
The players had high expectations for their first season in a new division, but Randal saw this season as a rebuilding year. They were aiming for both a state and an area title.
After an impressive 8-0 victory over Montevallo on opening night, their inexperience started to show. The team was primarily composed of sophomores, freshmen, and eighth graders. With their only victories coming against winless Tarrant and Holt, the Knights were 3-7-1 following a defeat to Donoho in a neutral-site rematch.
But two days later, on a road trip to local rival Fultondale, something changed. The Knights started spring break on a strong note with a 7-0 victory. They used the two weeks of practice to prepare for a pivotal matchup against American Christian, which they won 4-2 to take the lead for the area title.
Westminster won seven of the eight games between the Donoho game and the Final Four, and it easily won its last three area games to complete the championship. The lone defeat was away from home against Thompson, a Class 7A quarterfinalist.
The Knights’ upperclassmen leaders, who were outspoken on the field in motivating their colleagues, and Randal’s constant leadership were the driving forces behind the turnaround.
Randal stated following the semifinal loss, “We turned it around even though it wasn’t the best season for us this year.” We are really thrilled to have reached the Final Four, a place we never anticipated. We just want to keep going because we just finished a reconstruction year, so it’s crazy to be at the Final Four during that time.
With 10 of their 11 starters returning for 2026 and a wealth of knowledge to carry into their sophomore year in 4A, Randal and the Knights are looking forward to a bright future now that the groundwork has been established this season.
Randal declared following the Final Four that it was a fantastic season. We really simply built ourselves up to be a better program going forward with all we achieved this year. Although 4A has been somewhat of a test, we are enthusiastic about our future here because it is not all that different from 1A–3A. We wish to continue establishing our reputation. Continue fighting, keep fighting. We want to return here in the upcoming season.
Leib and Randal won top coaching honors for the third consecutive year and the second time in the last three seasons, respectively, thanks to their ability to lead through adversity in a season full of outstanding coaching performances from players like Thompson’s Dan DeMasters, Oak Mountain’s Chris Blight, and Indian Springs’ Justin Pino.
