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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

HELENA – In the final game of the regular season, the Montevallo Bulldogs and the Pell City Panthers faced off to test themselves one last time before the postseason began.

In the end, Helena emerged with a late winner and secured the 3-2 victory over Pell City in the battle of the Area 7 and the Area 11 champions on Monday, April 21 at Helena High School.

The Huskies emerged as the early favorite in the matchup with a big long-range chance. In the 13th minute, Henley Havens sent a throw-in over to Kate Hendrix, who teed off from 20 yards out to hit the far corner of the net for a goal and the 1-0 lead.

Helena led for much of the half until the Panthers equalized in the final minutes of the half. Pell City sent the ball into the box and forced the Huskies to chase multiple shots. Helena came up with three blocks before Pell City finally got the ball through the line to tie the game at 1-1.

That score line held through the halftime break as both teams went into the final 40 minutes in search of the winner.

After a scoreless first 20 minutes of the half, the Panthers faked out one of the Huskies defenders and took a shot that initially appeared to head wide. However, it bounced into the back of the net for a 63rd minute goal to put Pell City in front 2-1.

Helena quickly worked to respond on the attack and took the fight to the Panthers over the course of the next 10 minutes.

In the 67th minute, Baileigh Rumage passed the ball up the left side to Addison Foxworth, who played the through ball low across the box to Madz Blumstein, who tapped in the equalizer to tie it up at 2-2.

Five minutes later, Blumstein helped create another goal, working in the field to find Foxworth, who won a duel to get the ball and sent it back to Rumage. She unlocked the offense from there, dribbling through five defenders across 35 years of turf before finding a free Foxworth.

From there, Foxworth connected with the cross and sent it into the upper back corner of the net to secure the game winner.

With that, Helena capitalized on a big offensive advantage where they had a 16-5 shots advantage despite equal time of possession.

The Huskies finished the regular season 14-7-2 and will host the Briarwood Christian Lions on Friday, April 25 at 5 p.m. at Helena High School in the first round of the Class 6A playoffs.