A new soccer rivalry is on the rise in Shelby County, as Briarwood Christian held off Chelsea 3-1 in an area game Thursday night.

With more than 100 fans wearing blue and white Hornets gear, the Briarwood faithful was few in numbers. However, that didn&8217;t stop the second-ranked Lions from roaring forward to victory over the sixth-ranked Hornets.

&8220;I could tell tonight that this is going to be a good rivalry,&8221; head coach Mark Wallace said.

John Brackin scored in the fifth minute of play off an assist by Matt Wallace to give the Lions an early lead, however Kevin Pedersen dribbled the ball up field for nearly 40 yards to tie the game in the 25th minute.

The Lions gained control of the lead early in the second half, as Chip Elmer scored off a corner kick in the 47th minute. Jacob Steeley rounded out the scoring in the 65th minute with an assist by Wallace.

Chelsea, though new to Class 5A, was hoping to give Briarwood a challenge in the game.

&8220;We knew it was going to be a close game,&8221; Pedersen said. &8220;We held our own, but ran out of gas.&8221;

Pederson is already looking forward to an April 10 rematch at Chelsea. The Hornets shutout their opponents in home games this year, before a 2-1 loss at home to Demopolis Wednesday.

Other local soccer results from staff reports:

Hoffman leads Oak Mountain to wins over Hoover schools: Oak Mountain High School sophomore Chandler Hoffman scored three goals on the week to lead the Eagles to a pair of victories against Hoover schools. Hoffman netted two goals in a 4-1 victory over Hoover last Wednesday and the deciding goal in a 1-0 win over Spain Park on Friday.

Chris Markey collected the assist in Friday&8217;s win over Spain Park and scored the first goal of the match with Hoover. The third-ranked Eagles improve to 9-1-2 and 5-0 in the area, while Spain Park moves to 6-6-0, 2-3 in the area, on the season.

Hat trick leads Briarwood girls past John Carroll: Morgan Heny posted a hat trick to help lift her top-ranked Lions to a 4-1 victory over second-place John Carroll. She also added an assist on the first goal of the match, scored by Missy Shaw.

Thompson blows past Benjamin Russell: Mary Morris lived in the net Friday, scoring five goals for the Lady Warriors in an 8-1 victory over Benjamin Russell. Nikoal Clarke, Courtney Linhares and Lauren Vaughn each also ended the night with a goal.