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Photos by Kyle Parmley.
John Carroll girls soccer assistant coach Wes Patridge, Belle Buckner and Mia Mugavero during the 2023 soccer media day.
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Photos by Kyle Parmley.
Homewood’s Mary Siena McBride, Sunny Ferren, Maddie Massie, and head coach Sean McBride attend the 2023 soccer media day at Thompson High School on Jan. 19.
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Photos by Kyle Parmley.
John Carroll boys soccer head coach Matt Kirkpatrick, Thornton Dent, Sam Rickman and Alberto Gonzalez during the 2023 soccer media day.
The Homewood and John Carroll Catholic high school soccer teams were represented at the third annual Birmingham-area soccer media day event, held this year at Thompson High School on Jan. 25-26.
Homewood’s girls are coming off a Class 6A state championship, while John Carroll’s boys and girls are coming off quarterfinal appearances in Class 4A-5A.
The Homewood girls posted a 20-2-2 record last season and have a tough road ahead in their quest to earn another state championship. They did open the 2023 season as the top-ranked team in the Class 6A coaches poll, though.
“We’ve got a good returning bunch from last year and probably half of the team stepping up from [junior varsity],” Homewood head coach Sean McBride said. “Most of these guys returning play high-club ball.”
McBride was joined by senior captains Maddie Massie, Sunny Ferren and Mary Siena McBride at media day.
“It was a really good ending for us last year,” Massie said. “We worked really hard to get that. We’re all proud of that year, but it’s a new year and we’re working toward a new goal.”
Ferren acknowledged her team will have a “target on our back” as the defending champs, and McBride is aiming to make her senior year a special one.
“We’re going to be a team that works hard from the beginning,” Massie added. “We’re going to continue to work hard and have the mentality as a team that sticks together and has positive mindsets.”
The John Carroll soccer programs have collected many state titles over the years, but the boys last won one in 2012 and the girls last hoisted the trophy in 2018. The Cavs have lost to the eventual state champions in the state playoffs the last few years and are anxious to get over the hump.
“There’s a lot of motivation this year to get John Carroll back to where it’s been before,” John Carroll boys coach Matt Kirkpatrick said. “There’s a lot of work to do with that. We’ve got a strong senior class and they’ve been working really hard.”
The Cavs have 13 seniors this year, and Kirkpatrick remarked that he saw vast improvement over the second half of last season, something he hopes to see continue into this spring.
John Carroll’s girls team features four seniors and is a unit looking to return to the final four in Huntsville this spring.
“These girls have been close, it’s just time to get over the hump,” John Carroll girls assistant coach Wes Patridge said.
Patridge noted the positive mindset of the team beginning in preseason workouts has carried the program to this point. He also said head coach Robert Crawford does a “really good job of involving everyone” in activities on and off the field.
Homewood’s boys were one of the top teams in the state throughout last spring but came up just short against eventual state champion Mountain Brook in the quarterfinals. The Patriots will be looking to get back to the same level that saw them earn the 2021 state title.
