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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

NORTH SHELBY – The Oak Mountain Eagles will head into the playoffs without a loss on their record as they defeated their county foe the Thompson Warriors 5-0 on Tuesday, April 23 at Oak Mountain High School to finish the regular season with a 25-0-1 record.

Oak Mountain rode a strong start in the first half against Thompson to pull away and seal its 25th victory of the season.

The Eagles got ahead early by securing the opening goal of the match and didn’t look back from there.

In the end, Oak Mountain earned four goals in the first half to open up a commanding lead over the Warriors.

The Eagles also opened up the match strong on defense as they held Thompson scoreless in the opening half which gave them a 4-0 lead at halftime.

Oak Mountain kept up the defensive pressure all match long to secure the clean sheet and added an insurance goal for good measure on the other end of the pitch.

The Eagles second-half goal sealed the 5-0 victory and ensured they would enter the playoffs with no losses on the year.

Leading the way for Oak Mountain once again was Nate Joiner who earned a hat trick to score three of his team’s five goals. Aidan Riley and Sam Collins rounded out the scoring with a goal apiece.

Roy Soldevilla led the Eagles with two assists on the night and Collins and James Allen each earned an assist as well.

Joiner led the team with six shots, including five on goal, as he converted 60% of his shots on target for goals. Gabe Capocci ended the game with four shots and Collins and Harrison Kilgore each recorded two shots.

Alexander Chaide-Cruz and Owen Wells split the time in goal with 40 minutes each, and Chaide-Cruz saved Thompson’s lone shot on goal.

With the win, Oak Mountain further tightened its grip on the No. 1 spot in both the MaxPreps national spring soccer rankings and the Alabama boys soccer coaches poll ahead of the start of the postseason.

The Eagles will start the playoffs at home on Tuesday, April 30 against the Hoover Bucs at 7 p.m. in the first round.