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The Pelham Panthers earned their first-ever Paws Cup victory, defeating the Helena Huskies 2-1 on the road in dramatic fashion thanks to lockdown defense and a burst of energy. (For the Reporter/Jeremy Raines)

By TYLER RALEY | Staff Writer

HELENA – With the wind blowing swiftly high atop Helena High School, the Pelham Panthers watched on as Claire Robinson stood alone in front of Helena goalkeeper Adyson Shelton for a penalty kick.

In the moment, a conversion would break a scoreless tie in the 47th minute of the game, while a miss would keep the game locked and have both teams in a continued fight.

The whistle blew, and Robinson made her run up. From 12 yards out, she shot it towards the bottom left corner of the net, and while Shelton dove towards it, the ball just barely got past her, putting the Panthers up 1-0, boosting their momentum to an all-time high.

Pelham defeated the Helena Huskies 2-1 in the Paws Cup on Saturday, April 12 at Helena High School, securing the team’s first-ever win in the rivalry and giving it one of its most important victories in the final part of a tough season.

“It’s hard to put into words,” said Shane Ashcraft, head coach of Pelham girls soccer. “The energy, the grit and the fight is really something that I’ve been trying to get them to go with all year. There have been glimpses where you could see it coming, you could see the potential, and today, they just came ready. They came ready for a dogfight.”

Playing in a dogfight was the theme of the match from the opening kick. However, the Panthers were put on their toes throughout the first half of the game as the Huskies were in their offensive third for the majority of the opening 40 minutes.

Helena got a major opportunity in the 10th minute when star junior Kate Hendrix got a shot off, but missed just outside of the right post. It then got another chance just a few seconds later on a corner kick, but Marly Barfield saved the ensuing shot to keep it locked in a scoreless tie.

In the 16th minute, Saylor Peterson got a shot off that bounced off of the right post. At that moment, Pelham had survived the opening wave of threats from the Huskies.

In the 35th minute, even more momentum went in the direction of the Panthers when Barfield dove and saved a potential shot attempt through contact in a crowded area. The save set the tone going into the half at 0-0.

With the stellar defense that Pelham displayed in the first 40 minutes, it was no secret that it was on the doorstep of breaking through, and that it did.

In the 47th minute, a physical sequence of events saw Helena’s Shelton put up an attempt to get the ball back in her team’s possession. After handling one wave of Panthers, the ball was outletted to the left side of the goal. As Shelton went after it, she undercut Pelham’s Robinson in the box, drawing a foul and penalty kick.

As Robinson ran up for the shot, she put it near the ground towards the bottom left corner, getting it just out of the reach of Shelton and putting her team up 1-0 on the road.

Following that, things began to get chippy, resulting in a yellow card on Henley Havens in the 51st minute. 

The Panthers nearly capitalized later in the 54th minute on a free kick, but the shot was ultimately saved. However, the 64th minute proved to be more fruitful, as Janelle Ramos got the ball after it slipped into the open box and scored with ease, making it 2-0 in the second half.

From then on, Pelham continued to play feisty defense the rest of the way. The Huskies did make a loud run though, hoping to make a last-minute surge for a tie or win. In the 74th minute, Madeleine Blumstein broke towards the right side of the goal and scored to cut the deficit in half.

Unfortunately for Helena, the success just came a little too late as the Panthers held strong to finish out the final six minutes and win their program’s first Paws Cup.

The win moves Pelham to 7-12-2 on the season. With the playoffs out of the picture, it will close out its season this week with road games at Benjamin Russell on Monday, April 14, and at Briarwood Christian on Thursday, April 17. Both games will kick off at 5:30 p.m.

As for the Huskies of Helena, the loss ended their seven-game winning streak and dropped them to 11-7-2. Their next game will see them close out area play at home against the Hueytown Golden Gophers on Tuesday, April 15 at 5:30 p.m. at Helena High School.

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