By BAKER ELLIS / Sports Editor

In the most recent soccer polls released by Eurosportscoreboard.com, an incredible 14 soccer teams from across the county have been ranked in their respective polls. The boys and girls teams from Oak Mountain, Indian Springs, Spain Park, Thompson, Chelsea and Briarwood are all ranked, as are the boys’ teams from Helena and Pelham.

The boys and girls teams from 7A Oak Mountain and 1A-3A Indian Springs are all ranked as the No. 1 team in their respective polls. The four teams combined records as of March 31 were 54-5-6, which works out to a winning percentage of 92 percent. Of the eight No. 1 seeds in the state, currently half of those teams reside in Shelby County, made up by these two schools and their respective four teams.

The girls from Chelsea are the next-highest ranked team, as the Lady Hornets are ranked second in class 6A behind John Carroll Catholic. Chelsea (10-4-0) has won five games in a row and has only lost to top 7A competition so far this season. Helena, at 7-4-2, is also ranked No. 2 in the 4A-5A classification on the boys side. The Huskies have a whopping 16 seniors on their roster, and their only losses as of March 31 have come at the hands of Oak Mountain, Spain Park and Vestavia, all ranked in the top five of 7A.

The Spain Park boys are currently ranked third in the state while the girls are ranked fifth. The boys are 9-5-2, with those five losses coming to Oak Mountain (twice) and Enterprise, the top two teams in the state, as well as Vestavia and Thompson, also ranked in the top 10 of the class as well. The girls started out with an 11-0-0 record and currently sit at 13-1-1, with their only loss coming to Vestavia as well.

Thompson is ranked eighth on the girls side and ninth on the boys side as well, meaning each of the six 7A teams in the county are currently ranked. The girls, at 7-6-3, have been inconsistent this season, with their longest win streak to date at just three games. The boys started the season with a 6-1-0 record and now stand at 9-7-1. The Warriors best win to date has been a 2-1 victory over Spain Park on March 4.

The boys from Briarwood are ranked seventh in 6A while the girls are ranked ninth. The boys currently stand at 10-2-2 and are 9-0-1 in their last 10 games, and have been outscoring opponents by an average score of roughly 4-1 during that span. The Lady Lions started the season at 3-1-0, but have fallen to 4-6-0 over the last month and a half.

The boys’ teams from Pelham and Chelsea are also ranked in the top 10 of the boys class as well. Pelham, at 8-7-2, is ranked eighth, while Chelsea is ranked 10^th at 7-7-3 to round out all ranked teams in Shelby County.