Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

NORTH SHELBY – After suffering a loss in their first area match of the season, both the Briarwood Christian Lions and Westminster School at Oak Mountain Knights looked for positive takeaways from their meeting on Tuesday, March 4.

In the end, Briarwood prevailed in the battle of Cahaba Valley Road foes as the Class 6A Lions defeated the Class 4A No. 8 Knights 10-0 at Dunnavant Valley Fields.

Taking on the elements of a windy afternoon before a round of thunderstorms later that night, Briarwood’s offense and defense put together strong performances to secure the victory by the mercy rule.

After only finding the back of the net once against Spain Park, the Lions scored 10 different times to continue snowballing momentum against one of the top teams in Class 4A.

Taylor Leib led the way once again, scoring a hat trick with three goals while also adding in an assist. Her fellow senior attacker Brooklyn Barnett secured a brace with two goals but also chipped in on another pair of goals to finish with two assists.

Taylor Matthews also ended the evening with two assists and scored a goal as well to contribute to three of the 10 scoring opportunities. Ellie Rushing and Ava Hoaglund were active on both sides of the final pass as well and finished with a goal and an assist each.

Zoe Eighmy and Madison Bell rounded out the scoring with a goal each as seven different goal scorers contributed to Briarwood’s 10-goal haul.

The defense also had a strong night as it handed Westminster’s dangerous young attackers and secured a clean sheet.

The Lions used the strong performances on both ends of the pitch to end the game before the 80-minute mark by scoring 10 unanswered goals.

Briarwood improved to 3-3 as a result of the win. The Lions will look to take that momentum back into area play when they take on the Pelham Panthers on Friday, March 7 at 5:30 p.m. at Pelham High School.

Westminster dropped to 1-4-1 as a result of taking on another hard test for a young and developing team. The Knights will search for their first area win when they take on the Holt Ironmen on Wednesday, March 5 at 5:45 p.m. at Dunnavant Valley Fields.