Last season’s loss to Daphne in the state championship has fueled the Oak Mountain men’s soccer team’s run to MaxPreps’ No. 7 national ranking team.

The 14-2-1 Eagles have been playing with a renewed determination to get to the state championship and bring home the victory.

They lost 2-0 in the Class 7A final to the Trojans a year ago.

With the leadership of coach David DiPiazza, the team has channeled its energy to return and conquer the hurdle they faced last season.

DiPiazza is in his fifth season as head coach at Oak Mountain.

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He brings with him four championships from his days as John Carroll’s head coach. DiPiazza’s original plan was to become a lawyer. Fortunately for the Alabama high school soccer world, he was talked into going into education and then into coaching.

Even a coach tied for the third most soccer championships in Alabama high school history can evolve. DiPiazza said self-reflection and maturation in recent years are driving his evolution and the development of the Oak Mountain soccer program. He said he has mellowed and relates to the players on a different level.

“Coaching and teaching have changed. Times have changed. Raising kids in this new generation has admittedly changed,” said DiPiazza, a father of four. “I’ve become much less of a yeller, and I’m just talking to the kids more. I don’t want to be the kind of coach that has to chew you out at halftime to get you to play well.”

To better understand the players and help them bond as a squad, DiPiazza has coordinated a team bonding trip to Foley in the past couple of seasons, seemingly bringing this team closer.

Senior and multisport star Garrett Murphy and vocal leader junior Om Shrestha agreed this trip helped them bond as a team.

“I think it was a great experience for our team,” said Murphy. “I think that contributed to our chemistry. Going to play volleyball or walk on the beach, anything we did, we did it as a team. Just being together and spending time with one another.”

“We went down as a fun experience. We were young. We didn’t know what we were getting into,” Shrestha added. “When the game came around, we weren’t determined to win. That affected us from then on.”

Shrestha discussed what amounts to a recalibration for the program. The team initially went to Foley to have fun on the beach and forgot about the games. It wasn’t until they lost their final game in Foley a year ago that that they understood what was on the line.

“We went to dinner together and talked about it,” Shrestha said. “After talking about that loss, we came together as a team. After that we understood that we have to perform on and off the field all the time.”

The Foley loss ignited the run to the state title game a year ago.

The loss in the championship game last season appears to be doing the same for the team’s success this season.

DiPiazza takes little credit for this team’s early success this season. He praises the parents and players for their upbringing and focuses on the task and opportunities in front of them.

“We’re talented, but we have some great kids on the team,” he said. “They come from quality families. They’re good soccer players and even better people, and I think that’s what makes us so special.

“They’re extremely coachable. They care about each other. They work extremely hard, and talent is a huge part of it. It’s easy to coach. When you have kids that are coachable and talented, it makes my job extremely easy.”

Oak Mountain has one clear goal: get back to the title game.

“After losing the state championship game last year, our kids have just been driven and motivated to get back to the final four this season,” DiPiazza said. “I’ve had some great teams and lots of state championship programs, but these kids are tremendous kids, and it’s been easy to coach them.”

The players clearly follow DiPiazza’s lead.

“Coach DiPiazza is one of the best coaches I know. He focuses on the little things, and I think it’s the little things that matter when it comes to soccer because, at any moment, it could turn,” Murphy said. “He’s a great leader. He never wants us to get overconfident. He always wants us to stay humble, and I think it shows the way we play.”

“His attitude towards everything,” Shrestha added about his coach. ‘Off the field, you can talk to him like your parent. On the field, he’s a determined coach. He wants to win, but at the same time, he keeps the right attitude. He is more comfortable with our players now. He’s more like a father figure to us.”

DiPiazza praised the comradery of the boys and girls soccer teams at Oak Mountain and also the fan support. The Oak Mountain community keeps the Eagles soccer teams inspired with the advent of the GOOM Squad. DiPiazza and the players made sure to recognize them.

“I appreciate the support our student body has for our soccer teams. Our fans are called the GOOM Squad,” DiPiazza said. “GOOM stands for G-O Oak Mountain. They line the fence of our games, and when our players score a goal, they run down the line and slap high fives with the GOOM Squad.”

“They’re just doing an amazing job this season, and I hope they keep coming to our games,” Shrestha says. “GOOMs means everything to Oak Mountain. We live through our fans,” Murphy added. “It’s a big confidence boost to our team, and we always play better when they are there. GOOM is a lifestyle at Oak Mountain.”