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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

INDIAN SPRINGS VILLAGE – The Montevallo Bulldogs and Indian Springs School were already set as the top two teams in Class 5A, Area 8 for boys soccer going into their matchup on Friday, April 18. However, only one team got momentum heading into the playoffs.

That was the Bulldogs, which secured a 1-0 win at Indian Springs School in the final matchup of area play.

Montevallo came into the night needing to beat Indian Springs by four goals to clinch the area title. While the Bulldogs secured a crucial victory, Springs’ advantage on head-to-head goal differential gave them the area title on the tiebreaker.

As a result, Indian Springs will host Valley on Friday, April 25 at 8 p.m. at Indian Springs School in the first round of the Class 5A playoffs. Montevallo will hit the road one night before on Thursday, April 24 at 8:30 p.m. for a matchup against the Sylacauga Aggies.

The Bulldogs wasted little time striking on the attack to grab the lead. In just the third minute of the match, Irving Choto fired a shot and found the back of the net.

That put Montevallo in front 1-0, but it also put the visitors in the position where they had to defend a one-goal lead for the final 77 minutes of the match.

The Bulldogs kept the back of the net clean for the opening half to take the 1-0 advantage into the halftime break. From there, Montevallo continued its defensive form into the second half to quiet the Springs offense for the entirety of the 80 minutes.

A big reason why the Bulldogs secured the shutout was because of Erik Angel’s efforts in goal. The keeper secured a trio of crucial saves to help earn the clean sheet and give his team the 1-0 win.

Montevallo finished the regular season with a 15-3-2 record and a 7-1 mark in area play.

Indian Springs is now will finish out its regular season at home on Wednesday, April 23 against the undefeated top team in the nation, the Oak Mountain Eagles.