Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

By ALEC ETHEREDGE | Managing Editor

CHELSEA – The Chelsea Hornets are in the midst of a battle for a playoff spot in a difficult area, but they seem to have hit their stride at the right time with three consecutive wins, including an area victory against Hewitt-Trussville.

The Hornets fell to the Huskies 2-0 in early March, but a month later on Friday, April 7, they picked up a 4-0 shutout victory to improve to 2-3 in area play.

More importantly, the goal differential would give the Hornets an advantage with the tiebreaker thanks to the 4-0 win should the two finish in a tie for a playoff spot out of the area.

Now at 2-3 in area play, Chelsea has one area game against Spain Park left on April 25 to end the season that will likely determine their playoff fate, while Hewitt has Spain Park and area leader Oak Mountain still on the schedule.

In the win against the Huskies, Chelsea took the early 1-0 lead after a free kick led to a rebound and an opportunity for Davis Spencer, who curved a ball perfectly into the top left corner of the net for the early advantage less than 15 minutes into the game.

Just a few minutes later, the Hornets added some cushion when Leighton Garrard put one in to make it 2-0 in the first 25 minutes of action.

That became the halftime score, but it was the start of a balanced game for Chelsea, as the Hornets came right back with two more in the second half.

This time around, it was the combination of Andrew Teixeira and Max Wever that became deadly.

Teixeira came up with two assists in the second half, both of which found Wever for the third and fourth goals of the game, while the defense continued an impressive effort to close out the 4-0 shutout.

The win came one game after a 2-1 victory over Prattville, while the Hornets picked up a second shutout in a row on Tuesday, April 11 in a 5-0 victory against Fultondale.

In the win against Fultondale, Wever, Luke Miller and Parker Dean all accounted for goals, as the Hornets improved to 13-4-2 on the season.