By BAKER ELLIS / Sports Editor

VESTAVIA HILLS – As of April 18, Maxpreps.com ranked the Spain Park Lady Jaguars as the No. 12 team in the nation. Unfortunately for Spain Park, however the Lady Jaguars are not even the highest-ranked team out of their own area. The Vestavia Hills Lady Rebels are currently the No. 1 team in the state of Alabama and the No. 1 team in the nation per Maxpreps. Spain Park traveled to Vestavia on April 15 for an area game, and the Lady Jaguars were turned away with a 3-1 loss, moving them to 2-2 in 7A Area 6 play.

The game on April 15 was tied for all of 20 seconds, as Kennedy Hicks of Vestavia scored in the first minute of the game, giving the Lady Rebels an immediate 1-0 lead which they never relinquished. In the ninth minute Vestavia scored again at the end of a wonderful combination of passes inside the Spain Park defensive third, taking a 2-0 lead in the process and planting the Lady Rebels in complete control in the early going.

However, just six minutes after Vestavia knocked in its second goal, the Lady Jaguars struck back. Hunter Tilashaiski lined up a free kick opportunity from roughly 25 yards away from the Vestavia goal, and fired a rocket over the head of Lauren Roussell, the Lady Rebels’ senior keeper, which pulled Spain Park back to within a goal at 2-1. It was the third goal scored in the game in the first 15 minutes of play.

The one goal was as much as the Lady Jaguars could muster however, as Vestavia’s Faith Hauberg scored in the 27^th minute of the game, widening the Lady Rebels’ lead back out to two goals. Ashley Tessman had another look from outside of the 18-yard box for Spain Park, but the ball bounced off the top crossbar and went harmlessly out of bounds, and the Lady Jaguars went into the half trailing 3-1, and lost by that same margin after a scoreless second half.

The loss dropped Spain Park to 2-2 in 7A Area 6 play, and how the Lady Spartans fare against Hewitt-Trussville on April 19 and Mountain Brook on April 21 will determine whether or not the Lady Jaguars get into the postseason.