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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

MOUNTAIN BROOK – The Chelsea Hornets sprung one of the biggest upsets of the young soccer season as they went into the home of the reigning Class 6A state champions and earned a big victory.

Chelsea defeated the Mountain Brook Spartans 2-1 on Thursday, Feb. 27 at Mountain Brook High School, ending the Spartans’ perfect 4-0-1 season in emphatic fashion.

The Hornets took command of the game early on as they turned early offense into the opening goal of the match.

In the seventh minute of the first half, Madeline Hill found her teammate Harper Carter on the offensive end, and Carter took care of the rest to score the first goal and put Chelsea up 1-0. It was just the second goal that the Spartans had allowed all season.

From there, the Hornets defense locked down and kept Mountain Brook scoreless in the first half to take a 1-0 lead into the halftime break.

Chelsea continued to control the game on defense for the majority of the second half as it maintained its slim 1-0 advantage despite facing the Spartans’ solid attack.

Then, with about 10 minutes remaining, the Hornets got a golden opportunity to double up.

Mountain Brook’s defense took down Adeline Keith with a tackle inside the penalty box, leading to a penalty kick call for Chelsea. Natalie Peacock stepped up to the spot and delivered, converting the penalty kick to increase the lead to 2-0 with just mere minutes remaining.

However, the Spartans wouldn’t go down without a fight.

In the 75th minute of the match, Mountain Brook’s star defender Langston Lily created space for herself on offense and fired a shot on goal. She scored off the shot to cut the deficit to 2-1 with just five minutes remaining, putting pressure on the Hornets to finish off the job.

Chelsea was more than up to the task though and saw out the final five minutes without allowing an equalizer to secure the victory.

The No. 7 Hornets are now 4-2-3 on the season with the win. They will host the Prattville Lions on Tuesday, March 4 at 5:30 p.m. in their final game before the start of area play.