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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

DOTHAN – The Oak Mountain Eagles took care of business yet again in tournament play as their boys and girls soccer teams each took championships at the Wiregrass Cup in Dothan.

Both teams finished the weekend of Feb. 27-March 1 with 3-0 records. The boys didn’t allow a goal all tournament as they beat the Enterprise Wildcats 6-0, the Montgomery Academy Eagles 5-0 and Dothan Wolves 2-0 for a trio of strong Class 7A wins.

The girls had a strong offensive tournament as they beat Enterprise 5-0, the Central Red Devils of Phenix City 7-0 and Dothan 7-1 to finish the tournament with three wins.

Both the boys and girls now stand atop Class 7A with undefeated records, with the boys now at 12-0 and the girls at 8-0-1 with their lone draw coming against Chelsea in the Lakeshore Shootout. The boys are also now just four results away from breaking the state record for most consecutive games without a loss.

In the boys’ first game against Enterprise, Oak Mountain rallied for a big attacking performance in the first half, scoring four goals in the opening 35 minutes.

The Eagles kept the Wildcats scoreless in the opening half of play and went into the halftime break with a 4-0 lead.

Oak Mountain continued rolling in the second half and scored another pair of goals before seeing out the clean sheet on defense for keeper Owen Wells, who had five saves. As a result, the Eagles took the 6-0 win to kick off the week.

Six different goalscorers helped Oak Mountain secure victory, with Nate Taylor, Sam Collins, Gabe Capocci, John Will Peterson, Roy Soldevilla and Michael Dennis all finding the back of the net. Collins added two assists to his goal while also leading the team with three shots on goal, and Gerardo Rodriguez also earned an assist.

The next day against Montgomery Academy, Oak Mountain struggled to score in the opening half. However, it remained rock solid on defense to leave the game in a scoreless draw heading into the halftime huddles.

Everything changed in the second half after Oak Mountain scored the opening goal of the match. It stacked goal after goal from there to end the match with a 5-0 lead to improve to 2-0 on the tournament.

In addition to Alexander Chaidez-Cruz securing the shutout with just one save needed, Capocci scored on two of his five shots while also earning an assist. The other goals came from Rodriguez, who also had five shots, Grant Naumann and Ben West. Taylor and Collins joined Capocci with assists.

The Eagles then finished the tournament on Saturday, March 1 with yet another shutout performance against Dothan.

Oak Mountain used the strong defensive outing to set the table for the opening goal of the match as Collins scored before the halftime break to take a 1-0 lead.

From there, Oak Mountain used its advantage to keep the Wolves at bay and eventually found Collins, doubled up on his team’s lead to secure his brace, take the 2-0 victory and win the boys championship.

Taylor and Jovanovich each assisted one of Collins’ goals. Collins had six of his team’s eight shots and converted on two of his three chances on frame.

Chaidez-Cruz and Wells split the time in the net as Chaidez-Cruz earned a save in 40 minutes of game time while Wells didn’t need to make a stop in the 30 minutes he was in net.

Like the boys, the girls started out the Wiregrass Cup with a dominant showing against Enterprise, putting six goals in the back of the net en route to a 6-0 victory.

The next day, Oak Mountain had an even stronger outing against a winless Central-Phenix City side. The Eagles scored three goals in the first half while maintaining a shutout to go into the halftime break with a 3-0 lead.

Oak Mountain continued putting pressure on the Red Devils defense and got four more goals as a result of their efforts. The Eagles used those scoring chances to take the 7-0 win while earning another clean sheet on defense.

That perfect defensive record came to an end in Oak Mountain’s final game of the tournament against Dothan. However, for the second-straight match, the Eagles put up seven goals on the scoreboard to leave no doubt in the result and claim a 7-1 victory.

The boys will kick off area play on Wednesday, March 5 at 6 p.m. on the road at Hewitt-Trussville.

The girls will return to action on Thursday, March 6 at 5 p.m. against the Auburn High School Tigers at Oak Mountain High School ahead of the boys game at 7 p.m., which will be a rematch of last year’s Class 7A boys state championship match.