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The Chelsea Hornets walked away with an emotional area win after coming back to tie the game and ultimately win on penalty kicks over the Spain Park Jaguars on Friday, March 7 at Chelsea High School. (For the Reporter/Robert Dean)

By TYLER RALEY | Staff Writer

CHELSEA – As the cold air filled the field on a Friday night and players and parents alike could only hold their breath, just one thing could send everyone home with either the thrill of victory or the agony of defeat: a penalty kick.

With Chelsea goalkeeper Madden Brown standing in the way and Spain Park’s Cole Edwards lining up for his kick, both knew that a conversion would keep the rounds going and a miss would end things.

Following the sound of the whistle, Edwards made his run up towards the ball, shot it and watching it sail over the goal, the Jags senior stood motionless, put his jersey over his head and could only watch as the Hornets roster rushed the field in celebratory fashion after winning a thriller.

The Chelsea Hornets and Spain Park Jaguars were tied 2-2 after regulation and two periods of extra time, but the Hornets escaped victorious after winning in penalty kicks 4-2 on Friday, March 7 at Chelsea High School.

However, things did not look good for Chelsea in the early going. Just four minutes into the game, the Jags took the lead early on a free kick from outside the box that found the head of Andrew Walters, putting them ahead 1-0.

The goal immediately set the pace for how the game was going to play out and provided Spain Park a boost of aggressiveness in the first.

While the Jags proved to control the possession in the first half, they got a scare 10 minutes later in the 14th minute. The Hornets were awarded a penalty kick, which Cooper Baumbaugh went to take. On the shot, Spain Park goalkeeper George Everly saved the ball, which rebounded out to Jacob Cano, who shot it off the far side post before possession eventually was returned to the Jags.

That big save gave Spain Park another burst of energy, and in the 19th minute, a drive down the middle of the field saw Casey Giddens feed the ball to Bobby Propper outside the box, who struck the ball back in to Giddens for a goal, extending a solid first-half lead to 2-0.

The first half continued in smooth fashion for a few more minutes before Chelsea pushed the ball down the field in the 35th minute. It was then that a Hornets shot rebounded off of Everly towards Baumbaugh, who scored, but was called for offsides, negating the goal.

Chelsea did not have to wait much longer for the opportunity to return however. With ten seconds left in the first half, Max Wever got on the returning end of a free kick from Daniel Texeira, putting it in the back of the net to cut the score to 2-1 going into halftime.

That goal proved to be all the Hornets needed to get back in the game. As the second half rolled into action, Baumbaugh found multiple opportunities to score in the 46th and 51st minutes, but could not capitalize.

However, Baumbaugh got another chance to make a big play, doing so in the 59th minute with a corner kick that found Texeira’s head and made its way into the net to equalize the match at 2-2.

While the game got much more emotional after that goal and numerous yellow cards were handed out throughout the final 20 minutes, neither team found the goal to break the tie, sending the game to extra time.

The teams went through two five-minute periods not being able to get a clear opportunity to win the game. With the score still knotted after the extra 10 minutes, the game went barreling towards a round of penalty kicks.

Chelsea sent Wever up to the line for the first kick, who had no problem getting it into the net on his attempt. However, the Jags tied it up at 1-1 with a kick from Josh Tulloss.

Baumbaugh took the stage next for the Hornets and struck it to the top left corner of the net, putting it through for their second goal. After him, William Brown stepped up for Spain Park, but sailed it high over the goal to leave it 2-1 in favor of Chelsea.

Harper Jones was next on the list and struck the ball home towards the left side to give the Hornets a two-goal advantage, but Propper returned the favor with a shot to the left side as well, making it a 3-2 score.

Cano was the fourth player for Chelsea to take the box, and like his teammates, struck it to the left side for a fourth goal.

It was then that Russell stepped up in a big moment, knowing a miss would end the game. With the game on the line, Russell sailed it over both Brown and the goal, sending the Hornets faithful into pandemonium and ending the shootout at 4-2 in favor of Chelsea.

With the win, the No. 1 Hornets move to 9-1 on the year and 1-0 in area play. They now prepare for a meeting with the Gardendale Rockets back at home on Tuesday, March 11 at 7:15 p.m. at Chelsea High School.

Meanwhile, the Jags will hit the road again after falling to 3-6-2 on the year and 0-1 in the area. They will play the Fultondale Wildcats on Tuesday, March 11 at 7 p.m. at Fultondale High School.

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