Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

CALERA – The Montevallo Bulldogs put together a solid run through the Lakeshore Shootout Copper Division as they earned a win, a draw and a loss over the two-day tournament to take fourth place.

Montevallo defeated the Stanhope Elmore Mustangs 2-1 and tied Priceville 0-0 on Friday, Feb. 21 before losing 1-0 to the Carver Rams of Birmingham on Saturday, Feb. 22 at the Eagle Sports Complex in Calera.

In the first game against Stanhope Elmore, the Bulldogs got a crucial opportunity to get on the board with a penalty call against the Mustangs.

From there, Kaylee Ray stepped up to the spot and converted the penalty kick to give Montevallo its first goal of the night.

However, Stanhope Elmore managed to get a goal past the Bulldogs defense during the match to put the pressure on them.

Montevallo prevailed though thanks to a second goal, this time from Nicole Almora Sosa as the freshman helped the Bulldogs secure the 2-1 win over a Class 6A side.

Later that day, Montevallo was originally slated to face off against a fellow Class 5A team in Leeds, but the Greenwave withdrew from the tournament, giving the Bulldogs an automatic win.

However, Montevallo got a game against the Priceville Bulldogs that, while it wouldn’t count in the Lakeshore standings, would still count as a regular season match.

Montevallo put together a strong defensive effort against Priceville as Yazmin Chavez and Cecilia Ruiz stepped up in big roles throughout the 70-minute match.

In the end, Montevallo secured the clean sheet after keeping Priceville from scoring all match long. However, Montevallo was unable to score in response, leaving the sides in a 0-0 draw at the end of regulation.

The Bulldogs returned to Calera the next morning for another tough Class 6A matchup against Carver-Birmingham.

Carver broke through the Montevallo back line to score the first goal of the game and put the Rams up 1-0 on the scoreboard.

Just like in the second game though, the Bulldogs couldn’t offer up a goal in response and fell by one goal in the tournament finale.

Despite that, Montevallo still came in fourth place in the standings by virtue of its win over Stanhope Elmore and forfeit win over Leeds.