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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

FOLEY – The Oak Mountain Eagles kicked off the 2025 girls soccer season in strong fashion after going on a 3-0 run at the Southern Shootout.

The Eagles earned victories against the Fairhope Pirates, St. Luke’s Episcopal Wildcats and Foley Lions in the Girls Showcase II division from Feb. 6-8 at the Foley Sports Complex.

As a result, Oak Mountain secured second place in the division. The Eagles finished level on nine points with the Mountain Brook Spartans but had a goal differential of +8 versus the Spartans’ +14.

Oak Mountain opened up the season with a tough Class 7A test as it faced off against the Fairhope Pirates on Thursday, Feb. 6.

The Eagles kicked off the game strong on both sides of the pitch as they scored two goals in the first half while allowing none on the defensive end to take a 2-0 lead into the halftime break.

Oak Mountain continued to dominate throughout the match, scoring twice more to double its halftime advantage. The Eagles would then see out the clean sheet on the back end to wrap up the 4-0 win to start out the year.

The next day on Friday, Feb. 7, Oak Mountain found itself matched up against St. Luke’s Episcopal, and the Eagles were unable to secure as big of a victory despite facing an opponent from Class 4A.

However, the Eagles did score during the first half of play to give them a hold on the match, and they took a 1-0 lead into the huddle at halftime.

Oak Mountain couldn’t score from there but continued to remain in front on the back of its opening goal. In the end, the Eagles secured their second-straight shutout to kick off the season while winning 1-0 over the Wildcats.

Oak Mountain went into the last day of the tournament looking to walk away with a trophy, and it had to face the tournament hosts, the Foley Lions, on Saturday, Feb. 8 in order to do so.

Like the match before, the Eagles scored the opening goal in the opening 35 minutes of play, but that would be all the offense needed to lead at the break. Oak Mountain’s stellar defensive run continued to give the side a 1-0 lead after the first half ended.

Unlike the St. Luke’s match, the Eagles kept their foot on the gas through the end of the match. Oak Mountain fired two more goals into the Lions’ net to go up 3-0.

What’s more, the Eagles held Foley scoreless the rest of the way to secure their third-straight clean sheet and will carry their perfect defensive record back home to Birmingham.

After their Tuesday, Feb. 11 game against Northridge was cancelled due to rain, Oak Mountain will look to improve on its 3-0 record at home against the Prattville Lions on Thursday, Feb. 13 at 5:30 p.m. at Oak Mountain High School.

The Chelsea Hornets also competed in the Girls Showcase II division and finished the tournament with a 1-1-1 record.

Chelsea started out the tournament strong with a 2-0 win over St. Paul’s Episcopal on Thursday, Feb. 6 and kept its undefeated run going with a 1-1 draw against Fairhope on Friday, Feb. 7.

However, the Hornets closed the weekend with a 1-0 loss to the St. Luke’s Episcopal Wildcats on Saturday, Feb. 8 to finish with four points and in third place in the standings behind only Mountain Brook and Oak Mountain.