By DREW GRANTHUM/Sports Writer

HOOVER — From the outset, the boys’ soccer matchup between rivals Spain Park and Oak Mountain had all the makings of a defensive showdown. The youthful Spain Park squad came into the match having posted three shutouts thus far in the six-game season, while Oak Mountain came into the contest having shutout Mountain Brook, Pelham and Bob Jones in consecutive games.

In the end however, a three-goal first half led to a 4-0 win by the Eagles.

The two squads battled early, with Spain Park trying to disrupt Oak Mountain’s offensive attack. Jaguar keeper Galen Curry came up big early, blocking a shot by Jacob Jasinski in the 24^th minute. Curry came up with another huge block again at 19:38 when the Eagles’ Patrick Carroll took a shot during an offensive attack.

The pressure from Oak Mountain finally paid off, as Keegan McQueen netted a goal off a corner kick with 15:49 remaining in the first half to take a 1-0 lead. A little more than a minute later, Patrick Carroll blasted a shot past Curry to give the Eagles a 2-0 lead.

Oak Mountain continued to apply pressure, scoring again when Clay McDonald’s shot found the back of the goal with 37 seconds left in the first half.
At the end of one, the Eagles led, 3-0.

The second half saw fewer offensive fireworks, as the lone goal came when Tyler Luckett scored midway through the second half to put the Eagles up by 4-0. Despite an offensive push by the Jags, the Eagles held on to the 4-0 shutout.

OMHS head coach Dan Demasters said he was proud of his squad’s effort.

“We’re very fortunate to have a lot of speed,” he said. “We’ve been working a lot on attacking movements, and we still can get better, but when it works, it definitely shows. “
Spain Park head coach said he felt his young group learned a great deal.

“My guys work hard the full 80 minutes,” he said. “I’m proud of them. We’ve got to make better decisions with the ball. We’re a work in progress. We’re a young team; we’ve got four seniors out of 20 players, (so) this is something we can build on.”

The Eagles move on to face Hoover March 14, and Spain Park will take on Westminster-Oak Mountain the same date.