Almost every team has an X-factor on the soccer field.

Vestavia Hills coach Brigid Meadow says she has a team full of them.

“You couldn’t just say, if you mark this one girl, you’re going to beat Vestavia,” the coach said. “Most of the teams that we played had one go to; we had 11 go-tos.”

A talent-loaded Rebels team picked up a 3-1 victory over Auburn on Saturday in the Class 7A state championship game, giving the program its first state championship since 2019.

This season was the seventh girls soccer championship for Vestavia Hills.

“This is amazing,” Meadow said. “One of the best seasons I’ve ever coached, one of the toughest seasons I’ve had as far as coaching wise; I mean, we did it. Everybody out there, everybody on my team, every single girl, had a role in our season.”

The Rebels’ game was highlighted by a pair of goals within less than a minute of each other in the first half.

After a goal from Kelsey Redden 10:50 into the matchup, Addison Mizerany added another to put Vestavia Hills ahead 2-1 just 44 seconds later; tournament MVP Betsy Whitson had the assist on both goals.

Whitson would score the final goal of the game on a corner kick in the second half.

The victory for No. 1 Vestavia Hills comes two days after a victory in penalty kicks over No. 4 James Clemens.

“They’re awesome,” Meadow said of her team. “They’re just one of the best teams I’ve coached, as far as it’s hard to shut down every single one of us. They’re more determined than I think I’ve ever coached a team.

“I’ve had some talented teams that have won before, and this is certainly a talented team, but their work ethic far exceeds a lot of the other teams that I’ve ever coached and ever played against.”

Auburn’s goal came 9:05 into the game on a penalty kick from Tennessee Tech signee Claire Nappier; she finished with a game-high 3 shots on goal while Camilla Bosman had 8 shots for the Tigers.

After getting down 1-0 early, the Vestavia Hills coach said her team never worried despite being faced with a challenge.

“I knew we were going to come back, I knew that we were going to score. It was just a matter of when we were going to score,” Meadow said. “There’s just the feel and the vibe being the game, that warm ups from the time we got to the hotel, the time we got here. I wasn’t nervous.

“This is one of the first times I was not nervous going into a game, because this team has just proven to me over and over again to just be so resilient and so deadly.”

When asked about this year’s group, Meadow prided her players on consistently showing humility and showing out, even when being ranked the No. 1 team in Class 7A heading into the postseason.

“The smiles, the laughs, the relationships I’ve made with each one of the girls, the fact that they love each other,” she said of what she’ll remember. “I love them as a team, and I think that’s what’s so special about being able to coach teams, is that you get to make relationships with them and they’re lasting relationships and lasting memories.”