Patriots soccer teams set for deep playoff runs

HOMEWOOD — The hosts made a statement on Friday night.

In the first round of the Class 6A playoffs, the Homewood High School soccer teams outscored their opponents by 24 goals.

The Patriots girls mercy-ruled McAdory 16-0 in one half of play at Waldrop Stadium. An hour later, the Patriots boys kicked off against a Bessemer City squad that it defeated 8-0.

“Our goal today was to come out and do what we needed to do to be properly prepared for every round of the state tournament,” Homewood girls coach Mindy McBride said.

The Patriots girls and boys both outmatched their first-round opponents in terms of depth and talent. But the lopsided results shouldn’t be minimized because of those disparities.

If anything, Friday’s outcomes offered a glimpse of the efficiency at which the Homewood program has operated throughout the 2019 season.

The girls entered the playoffs ranked second in 6A, behind Chelsea, after totaling a 14-4-5 regular season record. They outscored their opponents 37-6 in the final three weeks of the season.

“We’ve all been playing together, most of us, since the third or fourth grade,” said Lizzie Oliver, a midfielder who is one of nine seniors on Homewood's roster. “We kind of know where people are going before we play the ball. “

Oliver, Claire Touliatos and Grace Ann Thomas have led the team in scoring throughout the season, though 13 players found the back of the net in the rout of McAdory. That number testifies to the team's vast talent pool.  

“We’re certainly not built around a couple of players,” McBride said. “It is the entirety of the team.”

The Homewood girls will rely on their depth as the playoffs progress. On Tuesday at 5 p.m., they’ll host Shades Valley — a team they already have beaten twice this season by identical 10-0 margins — in the second round.

It is the first time in a few seasons that Homewood has advanced to this point. The Patriots fell to Chelsea in the first round each of the last three years, but area restructuring now has the Patriots and Hornets on different paths to the state final four.

This year, they would not meet until the state final. That’s a real possibility given both teams’ success.

“We have the talent. We have the mentality,” Oliver said. “We just have to stay focused.”

A spot in the state final also is within reach for the Homewood boys, who are coached by McBride's husband, Sean. They entered the playoffs ranked No. 1 in 6A and were voted as Alabama's top team regardless of classification in the latest state coaches' poll.

The Patriots (17-2-4) picked up a marquee victory over Hoover in the regular season to win the Birmingham Metro Tournament and earned ties against a couple of other elite 7A teams in Mountain Brook and Oak Mountain.

“We had a tough schedule this year,” said Hardy Smith, a sophomore midfielder, “so I definitely think coming into the playoffs it prepared us well overall.”

Homewood went 24-0-2 last season en route to its first state title since 2014. The team carried its 26-game unbeaten streak into 2019 and extended it through April 2, when it ended at 40 games with a 2-0 loss to Florence.

“I think that loss really let us settle down and understand that it’s not about being undefeated,” senior defender Collins Keith said. “It’s about the playoffs.”

Homewood dropped its final game of the regular season to Bob Jones before notching the win over Bessemer City in the first round. Connor Smith, one of 18 seniors on the Patriots’ roster, posted four goals in the shutout.

Keith thought his team could have played better in the first game of what he hopes will be a deep postseason run.  

“I think that’s probably the hardest thing, is coming out with passion and drive, and we did not show that tonight even though the scoreline was 8-0,” Keith said afterward. “We should have put away this team much earlier than we did.”

Another opportunity awaits. The Patriots will host McAdory, which it defeated 6-1 earlier in the season, in the second round on Tuesday at 7 p.m.

“We’ve just got to pick it up from the start,” Hardy Smith said. “We can’t come out flat.”