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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

PELHAM – The Pelham Panthers used their Tuesday, Feb. 18 match to honor the Class of 2025, and the girls team made the night even better with a win.

Pelham defeated the Carver Rams of Birmingham 5-0 at Pelham High School to bounce back from their recent negative results.

During the evening, the Panthers honored their five seniors: Dulse Acosta Tejada, Lacey Lambert, Alessandra Mondragon, Angelina Lopez Vasquez and Marisol Pena Martinez. All five of them played key roles in Pelham’s victory.

The Panthers entered the match having not won in three-straight matches. They lost 2-0 to Gulf Shores to finish the Southern Shootout, drew 6-6 with Calera in a wild, rain-soaked home opener and fell 4-2 to Class 7A Tuscaloosa Academy on Saturday, Feb. 15.

That meant Pelham was looking to turn around its recent fortunes, and it wasted little time making a big statement to do just that.

The Panthers raced ahead on the offensive end and scored three goals in the first 10 minutes of the match.

In the third minute, Acosta Tejada sent in a pass to Lambert, who scored the opening goal of the match to put her team up 1-0.

Three minutes later, Claire Robinson teed off from long range and found the back of the net to double up the lead.

Lambert finished off the 10-minute spurt with her second goal of the game. She secured her brace with a goal off an assist from Mondragon to take the lead to 3-0 early on in the match.

While Pelham didn’t score for the rest of the first half, its back line held Carver scoreless for the first 40 minutes to take a three-goal lead into the halftime break.

The Panthers got back on the board early in the second half. In the 44th minute, Lambert took a shot on target in search of her third goal. While it missed the back of the net, the shot bounced back to Alexa Barrera, who buried it off the rebound to take the lead to 4-0.

While that margin was more than enough to secure the win, Pelham added one more goal for the road in the dying seconds.

Barrera won a free kick with less than a minute left. Lambert stepped up to take it and went direct on target with her shot, and she scored from distance to secure a hat trick and cap off the 5-0 win.

The victory was also coach Shane Ashcraft’s first home win with the Panthers.

In the boys game, Pelham suffered an upset loss to Carver-Birmingham as it fell 3-2 to the Rams.

The girls will look to improve on their 2-2-1 record in the Lakeshore Shootout. They will face Pell City on Friday, Feb. 21 at 5 p.m., Decatur on Friday, Feb. 21 at 8:30 p.m. and John Carroll Catholic on Saturday, Feb. 22 at 1:30 p.m. All matches will take place at Pelham High School.

The boys were previously slated to play the Paws Cup against Helena on Thursday, Feb. 20, but due to sub-freezing temperatures, the game was postponed. The Panthers’ next game will be on Tuesday, Feb. 25 at 7 p.m. against Fort Payne.