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Indian Springs won the Lakeshore Shootout Silver division with wins over Stanhope Elmore and Austin while Spain Park finished second with a pair of wins and Calera came in fourth. (Reporter Photos/Andrew Simonson)

By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

Three of the county’s preseason favorites squared off in the Lakeshore Shootout Silver Division, and each team walked away from the weekend with quality performances.

However, only one could claim the division title, and that was Indian Springs. It claimed first place in the division with a 2-0-1 record while the Spain Park Jaguars came in second place with a 2-1 record and the Calera Eagles earned fourth with a 1-1-1 mark.

Indian Springs and Calera tied their tournament opening match 2-2 on Thursday, Feb. 13 at Heardmont Park.

Springs scored the opening goal of the match to lead 1-0 at the half, but the Eagles rallied in the second half. Alex Montoya scored off an Armando Perez assist before Alex Garcia served up a chance for Mario Portillo, who secured the second goal.

Indian Springs would score in the second half to leave the sides tied at two goals apiece at the end of the 70 minutes.

From there, Springs took on another Class 6A test in the Stanhope Elmore Mustangs in a late-night matchup on Friday, Feb. 14 at Calera’s Eagle Sports Complex.

Disaster stuck early on for Indian Springs as they made a tackle in the box to concede a penalty. Stanhope Elmore calmly converted the spot kick to take a 1-0 lead in the first half.

After Alex Hage nearly equalized off a goal that was ruled offside, Springs got another chance to score off the counterattack. Eric Ledvina stuck his leg out to win the midair duel with the Mustangs keeper and followed up by scoring from about 12 yards out.

That strike came just before the halftime whistle to send both teams into the break knotted up at 1-1.

The tension continued to build with every minute of the second half that passed without a go-ahead goal, but with just a couple of minutes remaining, Stanhope Elmore’s goal kick struck a teammate’s hand in the box, leading to a penalty.

Hage faked left on his attempt but chose to send the strike right, tricking the Mustangs keeper and sealing the 2-1 win.

Indian Springs took the momentum from the late goal into its final game against the Class 7A Austin Black Bears on Saturday, Feb. 16 at Heardmont Park.

Springs took command early on, scoring the opening goal of the game and keeping Austin scoreless for the first half. That gave Indian Springs a 1-0 halftime lead that it would only build off in the second half.

Springs not only added one goal but a second as well as they continued to pull away from the Black Bears down the stretch. The ISS defense also secured the clean sheet as part of a 3-0 win to seal the championship.

As for the Jags, they kicked off their tournament with a 2-0 win over the John Carroll Catholic Cavaliers on Thursday, Feb. 13 at Heardmont Park.

After an evenly fought first half that left both teams in a scoreless deadlock, Cole Russell hit Andrew Walters in the attacking third to give him just one man to beat. Walters slid the ball past the keeper to put Spain Park up 1-0 in the 51st minute.

The Jags continued to remain in front and built on their lead in the 67th minute. Russell once again played a key role in the buildup, this time stealing the ball to start the counterattack. Passes to Angel Saena and Walters on the right side led to a cross to Bobby Propper at the back post to seal the 2-0 win.

Just like their first game of the tournament, Spain Park entered halftime against Calera tied up at 0-0, meaning the final 35 minutes at the Eagle Sports Complex would be crucial to deciding the Valentine’s Day duel.

In the 40th minute, Calera broke through as Sam Njoroge threaded a through ball past the Jags back line to hit Edson Gonzalez. The junior flicked a half volley over the Spain Park defender to find the back of the net and put the Eagles up 1-0.

From there, Calera’s defense fended off chance after chance with tight on-ball defending. That included a breakaway chance for the Jags in the 64th minute that just missed the target.

The Eagles saw out the final six minutes to secure the shutout and earn their first win of the tournament.

Spain Park then went into the final day of the tournament on Saturday, Feb. 15 looking for another victory as it took on the St. Paul’s Episcopal Saints back at the Eagle Sports Complex.

The Saints stormed out of the gate with two tight chances in the first five minutes, but the Jags defense settled into form and walked away with the clean sheet.

That set up the offense to take advantage at the other end of the pitch, starting with a goal early in the second half. Ken Lin took a St. Paul’s clearance all the way into the box before sending a laser of a cross to Walters for a header to take a 1-0 lead.

The Jags doubled up the lead off a Saenz penalty kick in the 48th minute after Propper got tackled in the box.

Spain Park kept the offense going with a great play that started back in enemy territory before the Jags won a header and Russell unlocked Propper on the run with a pass. Propper finished the job to increase the lead to 3-0.

Propper had a chance to make it 4-0 off a missed shot in the 60th minute, but Ethan Njau rebounded the loose ball to finish off the four-goal win and clinch second place.

After Calera drew its first game against Indian Springs and beat Spain Park, the Eagles fell 3-1 to Stanhope Elmore on Saturday, Feb. 15 at the Eagle Sports Complex.

The Eagles found the scoreboard off a second-half goal as Ken Mwangi sent a pass to Gonzalez for a goal, giving him a score for the second-straight match. However, Calera couldn’t find the back of the net other than that and gave up three goals in a two-goal loss.

Calera and Indian Springs will square off in their next match on Tuesday, Feb. 18 at 7 p.m. at Indian Springs School. Both teams enter the match with a 3-1-1 record.

As for the 3-2-1 Jags, they will play their first 80-minute match of the season on Tuesday, Feb. 18 at 7:30 p.m. as they face the Gardendale Rockets at home at Spain Park High School.

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