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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

BESSEMER – The Pelham Panthers kept the back of the net clean through 160 minutes as the boys and girls soccer teams each secured clean sheets on the road at Bessemer City.

The Pelham girls overwhelmed the Bessemer City Purple Tigers en route to a bounce-back 7-0 win before the boys got out of Bessemer City High School on Monday, March 17 with a 1-0 victory.

Anna McDonald kicked off the offensive evening for the Panthers after she scored off a corner kick for the 1-0 lead.

From there, Angie Lopez doubled up the lead with a long-distance strike as she chipped the ball over the Purple Tigers keeper from outside the 18-yard box.

McDonald then helped secure the next two goals as she was on both sides of the final pass. First, she sent a cross to the back post for Paisley Shanahan, who buried the ball for the 3-0 lead at the half. Then, McDonald won a one-on-one battle with the goalkeeper to secure her second goal of the night and a 4-0 advantage.

After McDonald earned her brace, two of her teammates joined her with their second goals of the evening. Lopez made the lead 5-0 with her second before Shanahan finished off her brace for the 6-0 lead.

The Panthers weren’t done though as Gabby Gonzalez sent a skillful shot into the back of the net for the final goal of the night to finish the 7-0 win.

Marley Barfield secured the clean sheet in goal as she didn’t allow any goals all night.

McDonald finished with two goals and an assist while Shanahan and Lopez each had two goals.

After that, the boys took care of business against a former playoff team from 2024 in Bessemer City.

However, it took Pelham a while before it could crack the Purple Tigers defense. Neither team scored in the first half to send them to break tied at 0-0.

The Panthers then broke the deadlock with just 21 minutes left in the game.

As Jose Ramirez went to work on offense, he found Orlando Avalos on the end of a cross, and Avalos went to work from there. He beat the keeper by sending the ball to the far post and sneaking it inside the woodwork for the opening goal.

That proved to be the lone goal of the night despite a strong second half as Kevin Tena and Jeffery Palacios combined for the clean sheet in the 1-0 win.

The boys improved to 10-2-2 on the year while the girls are 5-8-2. Both will be back in area play action on Thursday, March 20 for the first leg of the Shelby Derby against the Chelsea Hornets. The girls will play at 5 p.m. followed by the boys contest at 7 p.m. at Chelsea High School.