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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

NORTH SHELBY – Over the course of amassing the longest unbeaten streak in the state of Alabama, the Oak Mountain Eagles have rarely found themselves behind and in need of an answer in a boys soccer match.

Thursday, March 6 was one of those rare nights.

The Eagles went down in the second minute to the Auburn High School Tigers after a bouncing ball in the left post that went into the back of the net. However, Oak Mountain fought back in a big way for the rest of the match and secured the 2-1 win at Oak Mountain High School to claim the rematch of the 2024 Class 7A state championship game.

In addition, the girls eked out a 1-0 win in a defensive battle of the top two girls soccer teams in the Class 7A coaches poll to improve to 11-0-1 ahead of the boys match.

The boys’ win took them to 14-0 on the season and extended their streak of matches without a loss to 44.

After passing the 1994-95 Grissom Tigers for second place all-time with an area-opening 7-1 win over Hewitt-Trussville on Wednesday, March 6, the Eagles can tie their own record with a result on Tuesday, March 12 against Leeds.

After the opening goal, the Eagles got a string of threatening chances off of numerous possessions in the attacking third.

Sam Collins nearly equalized a minute later off a strong run down the near end line. The Eagles got even closer in the next few minutes when Luke Jovanovich’s shot was saved.

Then, Oak Mountain looked to equalize off a direct free kick goal in the 18th minute, but it was called off when an attacker got too close to the Auburn wall.

The Eagles kept pressing the attack and were rewarded just 11 minutes later. Collins got a strong counterattack run and fired the ball low past the diving Tigers keeper to tie the game up at 1-1 in the 29th minute.

Oak Mountain’s defense came up with a big clearance near the goal line in the 31st minute. The offense then sent in another string of chances in the remaining minutes of the half to make sure Auburn wouldn’t retake the lead.

The Tigers started the half in a much better fashion as they managed to get more time in the offensive end and make it a more even match. However, it wouldn’t be long before some of the Eagles’ best chance-creators in Jovanovich, Nate Taylor and Taylor Hunter started building offensive momentum again.

Oak Mountain finally broke through the Auburn defense in the 64th minute. Jovanovich sprinted down the left wing and sent a cross over to Gabe Capocci crashing in on the right post. Capocci fired a rocket across the goal to complete the comeback and take a 2-1 lead.

From there, the Eagles remained in control for much of the remainder of the match to secure a victory in the state championship rematch.

As for the girls match, Oak Mountain controlled the tempo early on with multiple strong possessions in the attacking third. Lauren Prier had a dangerous chance during that sequence with a cross that found the crossbar in the ninth minute.

Two minutes later, Kati Anne Shepherd set up with a free kick at the edge of the touchline with her eye on creating a big chance.

Much to her pleasant surprise, she created her own chance.

Shepherd’s booming cross landed near the right post and took a pair of bounces into the net.

That gave the Eagles a 1-0 lead in the 11th minute, but the only downside was that they’d have to defend that advantage for 69 minutes.

Oak Mountain had to stop a series of chances over the next stretch of the match, including a saved rolling shot ahead of a cleared follow-up in the 19th minute and a missed corner kick from the Tigers.

The Eagles had their opportunities in the remainder of the first half. Most notably, Faith Harrell’s shot in front of goal off a corner just missed the target in the 32nd minute.

Oak Mountain then got another big save off a second-chance shot to the near post with five minutes left in the half to preserve the 1-0 lead through the break.

The second half got off to a back-and-forth start, but the Eagles defense was steady and strong, staying in lockstep with the Auburn attackers and countering and clearing each chance sent their way.

After a strong run from Prier in the 54th minute ended with a rolling shot that was collected, the Eagles put together another threatening series of chances with just about 10 minutes remaining in the match.

A 69th-minute cross landed in a threatening position in the far post but was left wanting, and a Shepherd cross two minutes later led to a solid shot from Ellie Maniscalco.

The Tigers made one final big stand in the last three minutes but saw their shots blocked and a breakaway countered by Kaylee Alexander’s defending as Oak Mountain put away the 1-0 win.

The Eagles girls will have a quick turnaround as they face another Class 7A Final Four team in the McGill-Toolen Catholic Yellow Jackets on Friday, March 7 at 5 p.m. at Oak Mountain High School.

The boys will be off until Tuesday, March 11 at 7 p.m. when they host the Leeds Greenwave in search of tying the state record for consecutive matches without a loss. The girls will play beforehand at 5 p.m.