By BAKER ELLIS / Sports Editor

The 2016 boys Metro Soccer Tournament is currently underway, and is taking place at fields all across metro Birmingham and Shelby County. The tournament has 16 teams participating spread over three divisions, Gold, Silver and Bronze. Eight of the 16 teams are from Shelby County, and tournament play will wrap up on Friday, March 18, with championship games in the Gold and Silver divisions at Pelham High School. The Gold and Silver divisions are split into two groups of three teams each, and the winner of each group will meet on Friday. Here is what has happened so far.

 

March 14

Calera 3 – McAdory 7

The Eagles from Calera took on McAdory in a matchup between two Bronze division opponents, and Calera fell 7-3 to fall to 0-1 in the tournament.

 

Indian Springs 4 – Homewood 6

For the first time all season, Indian Springs took the field and came away on the losing end. Springs still scored four goals thanks to Sam Simpson, Parker Bryant and Austin Pack, who scored twice, but the No. 2 team in 6A scored six times in the game to knock Springs to 12-1-1 on the season. Springs is playing in the Silver division while Homewood is in the Gold division, so for tournament purposes the game did not affect either’s chances to make it to their respective finals.

 

Chelsea 3 – John Carroll 1

Chelsea and John Carroll, both competing in the Silver division, squared off at Chelsea High School late Monday night, and Chelsea got a big 3-1 win, good for nine points in the Silver standings.

 

Oak Mountain 3 – Vestavia 1

The Eagles and the Rebels, two of the consistently most dominant programs in the state, are both in Group A of the Gold division and met at Oak Mountain High School on Monday night for the first game of the Metro Tournament. After falling behind 0-1 early in the game, Hunter Holstad scored once before the half and once after halftime before his younger brother, Clay, added a goal as well as the Eagles rolled 3-1 to gobble up nine points in the Gold standings.

 

Spain Park 4 – Pelham 0

Spain Park and Pelham, both in Group B of the Gold Division, met Monday night at Spain Park High School, where the Jaguars beat the Panthers easily 4-0. The win gave the Jaguars 10 points in the Group B standings.

 

Helena 2 – Mountain Brook 0

The No. 1 boys 4A-5A team in the state, Helena, beat Mountain Brook 2-0 at Helena High School. Mountain Brook is playing in the Silver division however while Helena is playing in the Gold Division, and the game did not count towards either teams’ aspirations of a Metro Tournament championship.

 

Thompson 10 – Clay-Chalkville 0

The Warriors rolled over Clay-Chalkville 10-0 on Monday night. Both are competing in Group B of the Silver division, and the win gave Thompson 10 points in the Silver division.

 

 

March 15

Calera 1 – Fultondale 3

For the second fay in a row, Calera came up on the short end of the scoreboard in the Metro Tournament, falling to 0-2-0 in the tournament with a 3-1 loss to Fultondale.

 

Indian Springs 3 – John Carroll 0

Springs bounced back from its first loss of the season to take down 6A John Carroll Catholic High School 3-0 to advance to 13-1-1 and pick up 10 points in Group A of the Silver standings. Bryant, Ethan Getman and David Fox each found the back of the net for Springs.

 

Oak Mountain 6 – Chelsea 1

Chad Jeter, Hunter Holstad, Victor Cardinas and Caleb van Geffen each scored a goal while Jackson Murphy added two goals for Oak Mountain as the Eagles rolled over Chelsea 6-1. Chris Hill scored Chelsea’s lone goal in the second half. The game did not count against either team in the Metro Tournament, as Oak Mountain is in the Gold division and Chelsea is in the Silver.

 

Thompson 3 – Pelham 0

The Warriors knocked off cross-county rival Pelham by a 3-0 final on Tuesday, although the game did not affect either teams’ Metro championship standings as Pelham is in the Gold division and Thompson is in the Silver division.

 

Spain Park 3 – Homewood 2

The Jaguars clinched a spot in the Gold division championship game on Friday night with a 3-2 win over Homewood. The Patriots are in Group B of the Gold division along with Spain Park and Pelham, and the Panthers have now beaten both teams in the tournament, which guarantees them a spot in the championship game on Friday night at 7:30 p.m. at Pelham High School.

 

Helena 0 – Vestavia 1

In Helena’s first game in the Gold division, the Huskies came up just short to the Rebels by a 0-1 final, knocking them to 0-1 in the Gold division for the tournament and to 7-2-2 on the season.

 

 

What happens next

Gold division – As long as Oak Mountain does not lose 3-0 or worse to Helena tonight, the Eagles will play Spain Park in the Gold division championship game at 7:30 p.m. on Friday night.

 

Silver division – Indian Springs plays Chelsea tonight at 7:30 p.m. at Chelsea while Thompson plays Mountain Brook at the exact same time at Mountain Brook High School. Chelsea currently has nine points in Group A while Indian Springs has 10, so the Hornets have to beat Springs straight up to advance to the championship game, as a tie will send Springs on. Thompson and Mountain Brook both have 10 points in Group B, and a winner must be declared in that game tonight, as one or the other must advance to the Silver division title game. The Silver championship is at 5:30 p.m. on Friday.