It’s been a little more than a decade, but the John Carroll boys soccer team has returned to the mountaintop of Alabama high school soccer.

The third-ranked Cavaliers charged their way to an 8-1 victory over No. 6 Gulf Shores in Saturday’s Class 5A state championship match at Huntsville’s John Hunt Park.

With the win, John Carroll (20-7-3) captures its 11th state title – extending its AHSAA record for crowns – and the first since the 2012 season.

“It’s great, this is great,” John Carroll coach Matt Kirkpatrick said. “We are really blessed. We had an up-and-down year, faced a lot of adversity, but we know that God has been with us the entire time. We felt His presence.”

The Cavaliers from Birmingham jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first 20 minutes of play, scoring on Jacob McMahon and Sebastian Guerrero goals, and increased the advantage to 3-0 on McMahon’s second goal of the game in the 33rd minute.

Gulf Shores managed to sneak in a goal on Jasper Calvert’s assist to Talan Galvan in the final minute of the first half.

However, John Carroll offered no quarter in the second half – scoring five goals and coasting to its first title in 11 years.

“It’s just the way that we play,” Kirkpatrick said. “They give it all. They give their whole heart. We carry all of our alumni, the two seniors from last year and all these guys. From getting up for early morning workouts to the last minute of the state championship.”

Yosseph Awad scored in the third minute to open the second half and Gabe Restrepo added the Cavaliers’ fifth and sixth goals within three minutes of one another. Yeri Maldonado and Miguel Ortiz scored the final two goals off Restrepo assists in the last five minutes of the match.

Gulf Shores (23-7) was outshot 39-4 by John Carroll – 22-2 on shots on goal – and Cavaliers’ goalkeeper Zion Norman was credited with a save.

Restrepo was named tournament MVP, producing two goals and three assists in the championship match and a goal and an assist in the Cavaliers’ 4-0 semifinal win over Guntersville.

“It’s crazy,” Restrepo said. “This is the 11th year we haven’t won and this is our 11th championship. I wouldn’t say it’s a coincidence because we have God on our side. But it’s an amazing feeling.”