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Oak Mountain secured its second tournament of the season by beating Thompson, Chelsea and Grissom to win the Lakeshore Shootout Platinum Division and extend its unbeaten streak to 36 matches in a row. (Reporter Photos/Andrew Simonson)

By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

Another year brought another brutal field of teams for the Oak Mountain Eagles to navigate through in the Lakeshore Shootout Platinum Division. However, another year has brought another trophy.

Oak Mountain finished the Lakeshore Shootout 3-0 with 5-1 wins over the Thompson Warriors and the Chelsea Hornets at Heardmont Park before the Eagles downed the Grissom Tigers 4-0 at Calera’s Eagle Sports Complex to secure first place in the division.

With the wins, the defending Class 7A state champions are now 6-0 on the season and are unbeaten in their last 36 matches. As a result, Oak Mountain is rapidly closing in on its own state record of 45 straight games without a loss, which it set from 2015 to 2017.

The Eagles kicked off the tournament with the first of two county battles at Heardmont Park, this time against the Thompson Warriors on Wednesday, Feb. 12.

Oak Mountain fired two goals past the Thompson defense to make an early statement, but the Warriors didn’t make it easy for the Eagles. The visitors got a goal back before the break as the teams went into the halftime huddles with Oak Mountain leading 2-1.

That was as close as Thompson could get though as the Eagles slammed the door shut in the second half. Oak Mountain scored the first goal of the half to take a multi-goal lead, and the hosts continued to find the back of the net throughout the second half to secure the 5-1 win.

Gerardo Rodriguez carried over his strong form from the Southern Shootout with a brace thanks to his two goals against the Warriors. Gabe Capocci had a goal and an assist, and Roy Soldevilla and Luke Jovanovich had a goal apiece in the win.

In addition to the goals, Sam Collins finished with a team-high two assists while Nate Wright also had an assist.

Owen Wells had to make a save as he stopped one of the chances he faced while Alexander Chaidez-Cruz shut out Thompson during his 35 minutes in goal.

The Eagles took that momentum into their second game of the tournament: a rematch of the 2024 Class 7A quarterfinals against the Chelsea Hornets on Thursday, Feb. 13.

Oak Mountain scored the opening goal of the match and wasted little time racking up a multi-goal lead. The Eagles scored three goals in 12 minutes to take a 3-0 lead in the first half.

However, Chelsea got a goal back before the break. Ten minutes after the third goal, Marcus Garcia found Max Wever with a cross to make the score 3-1 at the half.

After the break, Oak Mountain failed to convert a penalty but got two more goals before the end of the match to seal the 5-1 victory.

Collins ended the game with a hat trick after scoring three goals. Rodriguez also got another brace by scoring twice in the win, and Jovanovich earned an assist.

Wells stopped four of the five shots on target that he faced to secure the victory in net.

As a result, Oak Mountain went into its final match against Grissom with a comfortable +8 goal differential, meaning a win would likely seal the tournament title.

The Eagles switched locations to the Eagle Sports Complex in Calera for the Friday, Feb 14 clash, but they carried over their momentum to the neutral site as they faced the Tigers.

Oak Mountain kept a clean sheet for the entire first half and got on the board with the opening goal of the game. The Eagles would double up that lead ahead of the halftime break and took a 2-0 lead into the intermission.

Oak Mountain kept going after the break and continued scoring down the stretch. In the end, the Eagles added two more goals to take a four-goal lead and shut out Grissom the entire game to take the 4-0 win.

Collins finished the game with two of the four goals. Jovanovich and Taylor Hunter rounded out the scoring with a goal each while Capocci, Rodriguez and Michael Dennis secured an assist apiece.

Wells earned two saves during his 70 minutes in goal to walk away with the shutout win.

Oak Mountain will aim to continue its unbeaten run against the Huntsville Panthers on Tuesday, Feb. 18 at 7 p.m. at Oak Mountain High School in a rematch of the 2024 Final Four.

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