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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

BESSEMER – The Helena Huskies got off to a flying start in area play as both the varsity boys and girls soccer teams emerged victorious from a road test.

Helena’s boys defeated the Bessemer City Purple Tigers 3-1 on Tuesday, March 11 at Bessemer City High School after the girls picked up a dominant 10-0 victory.

The boys had to respond to an early batch of adversity as last year’s playoff team Bessemer City scored the opening goal of the match. The Purple Tigers sent in a shot from the top of the penalty box that went under the Huskies keeper’s hands to put the hosts up 1-0.

That left Helena in need of a big response on the road. Fortunately for the Huskies, they got one in the form of senior Austin Lewis.

He knotted up the game just before the break with a 39th-minute goal, sending both teams into halftime tied up at 1-1.

Lewis didn’t wait long to secure a brace as he scored his second goal of the game just two minutes into the second half. Conrad Yost sent in a cross to Lewis to secure the go-ahead goal and take the 2-1 lead.

From there, Lewis put the nail in the coffin with his third goal of the game in the 60th minute. He and Yost linked up again as Lewis capitalized off a strong pass in towards him to take the two-goal lead.

That hat trick made the difference as Helena walked away with a 3-1 comeback win to start area play 1-0.

As for the girls, they put together a dominant performance on both ends of the pitch to overwhelm Bessemer City.

The Huskies fired goal after goal past the Purple Tigers to keep adding to the lead, and their defense held up strong as a result of the offensive pressure.

Helena secured a clean sheet on the defensive end to pave the way for a mercy rule victory as the Huskies hit double digits on the scoreboard to end the game before the 80-minute mark.

The match also saw a big moment for one of Helena’s key contributors as center back Carson Copeland scored her first career goal in the dominant 10-0 victory for the visitors.

As a result of the wins, Helena’s boys improved to 4-5-1 while the girls are now 4-5-2. The boys will hit the road to Fort Payne on Friday, March 14 for their next match, which kicks off at 7 p.m. that night. As for the girls, they will host reigning 5A state champion Springville in their next game on Thursday, March 13 at 7 p.m. at Helena High School.