FROM STAFF REPORTS

After two days of rain delays, the Chelsea High School boys soccer team finally played its season opener against in-county rival Calera and took a 10-0 win Feb. 13.

The Hornets and Eagles squared off with both teams on a sloppy, wet field looking for chances early on, but neither team finding the back of the net.

As the game approached 20 minutes in, Chelsea finally generated a productive effort as Will Bevill found Taylor Martindale on a long through ball. Martindale patiently touched the ball forward into the Calera box and with a defender closing in, he ripped a low right-footed blast into the lower left side of the goal.

Less than four minutes later, Bevill found his first goal of the night as forward Kalani Dickinson slipped a clever little through ball into the Calera box and Bevill buried the open shot.

Two minutes later, sophomore substitute midfielder Camilo Cangrejo came on and got onto a long through ball which he pressed into the box and hit past the Calera keeper with the outside of his left foot making the Hornet lead 3-0.

The score wouldn’t stay there for long. Nineteen seconds later, Cangrejo received a pass on the left side of the box and he crossed it to an open Bevill who drove home a second goal.

Less than three minutes later, Cangrejo again found an open team mate in the box. This time it was senior Vitalik Carter, who took a few touches and banged home his first goal of the night.

Again, only nineteen seconds passed before Chelsea scored again. This time goal keeper Josh Carpenter played a long ball into the Calera end where a Calera defender gathered it only to have Martindale steal it and punch it into the net to give Chelsea a commanding 6-0 lead.

The Hornets scored one more in the first half with 14 seconds left, as senior captain Tony Thompson fed Bevill a square pass at the top of the box, and Bevill hammered a low line drive to give the Hornets a 7-0 lead at halftime.

In the second half, Chelsea continued its control of the game as Cody Hood scored a goal, and defender Josh Bartlett scored two, including a header from a corner kick to end the game at 10-0.

Chelsea head coach Lee Miller said after the game, “Calera is a solid team, but all the breaks went our way tonight. I’m proud of the way we started the season, but our team will have to face adversity soon, so I hope we handle it well. Soccer season is a marathon, not a sprint. We have to keep improving.”