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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

HOOVER – The Spain Park Jaguars took care of business in their final area game of the season as they defeated the Chelsea Hornets 3-1 on Tuesday, April 15 at Spain Park High School.

However, the Jags had to come from behind to secure their perfect 6-0 record as they scored three unanswered goals in the second half to take the win.

Chelsea needed a win over Spain Park to advance to the Class 6A playoffs, and a loss combined with Briarwood’s 10-0 win over Pelham on Thursday, April 17 eliminated the Hornets from playoff contention on the head-to-head goal differential tiebreaker with the Lions.

The Jags nearly took the lead in the second minute when a shot ricocheted off the crossbar. Both teams then battled it out in midfield before Addy Soehn charged in and fired off a breakaway shot against the Chelsea goal in the eighth minute.

Much of the remainder of the half was dominated by Spain Park’s Reese Oldfield along the right wing and Chelsea’s Gabi Guillen in the midfield. The two prolific goalscorers tried to get their team going with multiple shots and breakaways, but they couldn’t find the back of the net.

That sent the teams to the half tied up at 0-0 and looking for a breakthrough goal.

The Hornets flipped a switch coming out of the break and went on the attack to begin. After their effort in the 44th minute was saved, chaos ensued in front of the net in the 45th minute before Natalie Peacock tapped the ball into the net for the 1-0 lead.

That lead would not last long though as Oldfield charged in on the break in the 48th minute and slotted a shot into the upper 90 past a diving Chelsea effort to tie the game up at 1-1.

From there, both teams played out a nervy next 20 minutes in search of the go-ahead goal. Oldfield got off a rolling shot on the breakaway in the 54th minute before Guillen’s shot in the 69th minute was blocked.

Morgan Pritchett was then called into action for two of her biggest saves of the day, and they came in quick succession off a 70th-minute run from Adeline Keith.

Those saves proved to be even more crucial after they set up the Jags to strike on the other end.

Oldfield went to work again on the breakaway, this time down the right wing in the 71st minute. She fired across the goal to secure her second of the day and give Spain Park its first lead of the match at 2-1.

Just two minutes later, the Jags put the game to bed with another counterattack chance. This time, it was Soehn who sprinted down the left wing and played Oldfield on a cross into the box. Oldfield extended her foot to meet the ball in midair and deflect it into the back of the net.

That finished off the 3-1 win for Spain Park and the hat trick for Oldfield thanks to the assist from Soehn.

The Jags would go on to defeat the Hewitt-Trussville Huskies 6-3 on Thursday, April 17 at Spain Park High School to cap off a 15-3-1 regular season.

Spain Park will enter the playoffs as the No. 1 team in Class 6A girls soccer and will host the McAdory Yellow Jackets in the first round of the playoffs next weekend.

Chelsea dropped to 9-5-5 overall and 3-3 in area play ahead of a Thursday, April 17 game against Montgomery Academy. The No. 9 Hornets will finish the year at home on Monday, April 21 at 5 p.m. against the No. 6 Northridge Jaguars.