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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

NORTH SHELBY – After falling 1-0 to Vestavia Hills and 4-0 to Hoover in their first two area matches of the season, the Oak Mountain Eagles knew the stakes were high going into their Friday, March 21 matchup with the Hewitt-Trussville Huskies.

A loss would drop them to 0-3 in Class 7A, Area 5 and put them behind three fellow top-five teams in the Class 7A girls soccer coaches poll.

However, Oak Mountain rose to the challenge, using a pair of second-half goals to grab the 2-1 win and keep pace in the race for the postseason.

That victory came after the Eagles boys remained undefeated on the season with a 4-0 victory over Hewitt-Trussville, taking their record to 18-0 while putting them on the cusp of an area title with a 4-0 area mark.

In the girls game though, neither Oak Mountain nor Hewitt-Trussville could break through in the opening 40 minutes as the defenses took the game to the break tied at 0-0.

The Eagles worked the attack to start the second half and were rewarded with the game’s opening goal.

Just about 15 minutes into the second half, Mae Caroline Cherry found Ava Fields on offense, and the freshman took advantage of the pass to fire home a goal and give Oak Mountain a 1-0 lead.

The Eagles wouldn’t have to wait long to double up their lead as Marley Brown scored just mere minutes later to take the lead to 2-0.

Oak Mountain held onto that lead throughout the rest of the match, but it received a late threat from the Huskies. Hewitt scored with just two minutes left in the match to cut the deficit to one and amplify the pressure in the dying seconds of the contest.

However, the Eagles finished the job to secure their first area win of the season.

Before then, the Oak Mountain boys faced off with the Huskies for the second time in 2025 looking to sweep the season series and tighten their grip on an area championship.

The Eagles struck first in the match as they scored the opening goal in the first half. That gave them a 1-0 advantage heading into the halftime locker room.

Now in front but with Hewitt-Trussville not out of striking distance yet, Oak Mountain put the game away on the offensive end in the remaining time in the match.

The Eagles doubled up their lead with the first goal of the half and then scored twice more before the full time whistle blew, sealing the 4-0 victory to improve to 4-0 in area play.

Sam Collins and Gerardo Rodriguez both came up big on the offensive end as each senior finished with two goals apiece to earn a brace. They also each finished the night with an assist on the other’s goal. Gabe Capocci secured the team’s other assist in the victory.

Collins’ two goals came off a team-high six shots, with four ending up on target. Rodriguez was even more efficient, converting both of his shots on target and two of his three shots overall. Capocci and John Will Peterson also each had two shots on the evening.

Owen Wells secured the clean sheet in net as he made two saves during his 80 minutes in goal.

The boys are now 18-0 on the year and will return from spring break to face local foe Westminster School at Oak Mountain on Tuesday, April 1 at 7 p.m. at Oak Mountain High School.

The 13-2-2 girls will return to action before that as they tangle with the Spain Park Jaguars at 5 p.m. Oak Mountain gave Spain Park its lone loss of the season back in the Lakeshore Shootout, and now the 6A No. 1 will look for revenge against the Eagles.