Thanks to Coosa Pines Federal Credit Union for sponsoring our coverage this season.

By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

PELHAM – The Pelham Panthers dominated their final game before area play starts with a shutout win over the Jacksonville Golden Eagles.

Pelham defeated Jacksonville 10-0 on Tuesday, March 3 at Ned Bearden Stadium in just 62 minutes of game time.

Bakr Al-Sugi continued his dominant start to the season by securing a natural hat trick in the first 15 minutes of the match. He would finish with five goals on the night.

He opened his scoring in the sixth minute by taking a Liam Giuliani assist to put the Panthers up 1-0. Three minutes later, he broke through the back line and received a pass from Orlando Garcia to double up the lead.

His hat trick came on another break and Giuliani assist to increase the lead to 3-0 in the 15th minute.

The Panthers continued to press the attack, and Garcia got a goal of his own thanks to a cross from Anzel Santos in the 23rd minute.

Al-Sugi then scored his fourth goal of the half off a Luis Bravo assist to make it 5-0 in the 24th minute, a scoreline that held through the halftime whistle.

Garcia wasted little time scoring after the second half started after Juan Bravo switched over to him. His second goal of the match was Pelham’s sixth in the 41st minute.

Two minutes later, Al-Sugi closed out his evening with his fifth goal, this time scoring by himself for the 7-0 lead.

Giuliani grabbed his third assist of the match in the 52nd minute when his pass to Warren Palacios got finished off for goal number eight.

After Luis Bravo assisted Al-Sugi in the first half, he got a goal of his own in the 59th minute after converting an assist from Peyton Pilcher for the 9-0 lead.

Then, a penalty kick chance in the 62nd minute gave Pelham a chance to finish off the win. The coaches gave the ball to Zeferino Evangelista for a shot at his first varsity goal, and he scored the spot kick for the walk-off goal.

Dylan Palmier and Alex Hernandez secured the clean sheet in goal for the Panthers.

Pelham improved to 9-1-1 and extended its unbeaten run to seven matches in a row. The No. 2 Panthers will now travel to Lions Pride Stadium to face the No. 7 Briarwood Christian Lions on Friday, Feb. 6 at 7 p.m.

The Panthers girls lost 1-0 to Jacksonville in the early game after conceding a penalty kick in the first half. They will face the defending state champion Lions on Friday, Feb. 6 at 5 p.m.