April 12

Pelham beats Chelsea in PKs, again

On March 8, Pelham beat Chelsea in a penalty kick shootout on the road to steal the first area game of the season between the two. The second meeting of the year, with the Hornets playoff hopes on the line, was just as thrilling as the first, and ended with the same result.

LaQuarious Belyeu scored in the second half of regulation for Chelsea to give the Hornets a 1-0 lead in the 55^th minute before Adrian Arceo scored in the 69^th minute to tie the game at 1-1. After two scoreless overtime periods, the two headed to their second penalty kick shootout in as many games. Both teams went 2-for-5 through their first five PK shots, with Pelham keeper Seth Torman and Chelsea keeper Markus Frederick coming up big.

Per AHSAA rules, if the first round of penalty kicks ends in a tie, teams trade shots one at a time until a winner is declared. Nigel Hilliard scored for Pelham on the sixth PK of the game for the Panthers, and Noah Lunsford’s shot was subsequently blocked by Torman, which gave Pelham the 1-1 (3-2) win. With the loss, Chelsea will miss the playoffs for the second year in a row while Pelham will try to make another run at the 6A Final Four.

 

Briarwood beats Shades Mountain

Briarwood traveled to Shades Mountain Christian on Tuesday and walked away with a 7-3 win, moving the Lions to 12-3-2 on the year. Briarwood will face Chelsea on April 15 and Pelham on April 19 as the Lions look to wrap up area play.

 

Eagles handle Thompson

Oak Mountain advanced to 18-0-1 on the year after defeating area opponent Thompson 3-1 on Tuesday. Caleb Van Geffen scored in the first half to give the Eagles a 1-0 lead at the break before the Warriors tied the game at 1-1 early in the second. Kennedy Davis however pushed the Eagles back ahead with roughly 25 minutes left in the match, scoring off a rebounded shot to give Oak Mountain the lead for good. Levi Long hit Jackson Murphy for the clincher late in the game, giving Oak Mountain the 3-1 win, moving them to 5-0 in area play. Thompson plays Hoover tonight, and to clinch the No. 2 seed in the area, the Warriors have to beat the Bucs by at least two goals.

 

Chelsea girls shut out Pelham

MyKenzie Haley led Chelsea over Pelham with two goals and two assists as the Lady Hornets blanked area opponent Pelham by a 10-0 final on Tuesday. The win moved Chelsea to 11-5-0 on the year and gave head coach Jonathan Hammett his 100^th career victory with Chelsea. The Lady Hornets are 3-0 in 6A Area 10 and will play Briarwood on April 15 for a chance to clinch the area title.

 

Helena blanks Montevallo

The 4A-5A No. 2 ranked Helena Huskies traveled to play area opponent Montevallo on Tuesday, and walked out with an easy, 9-0 win. The victory was Helena’s 10^th of the year, and moved the Huskies to 3-0 in area play. Helena has area games against Jemison, Calera and Montevallo all coming up on the schedule as the Huskies look to secure home field advantage in the first round of the playoffs. The Huskies beat their three area opponents by a combined score of 26-2, and should not struggle to wrap up home field.