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Pelham’s boys soccer team held on for a thrilling win against Clay-Chalkville on Wednesday, Feb. 13, to start the season 2-0. (For the Reporter/Larry Dancy)

By SETH HAGAN | For the Reporter

PELHAM – The No. 3 Pelham Panthers found themselves in a back-and-forth affair, as the Clay-Chalkville Cougars gave them a good test, but in the end, Pelham had enough firepower to take the win by a final score of 4-3 Wednesday, Feb 13.

“Going back to our opening game we took plenty of shots, but they weren’t on frame and talk amongst the team over the last couple of days has been that we need to choose better placement of shots,” said Pelham head coach Patrick McDonald. “When we have an opportunity, don’t just release it, and I thought we did a much better job tonight of taking advantage of quality opportunities.”

Pelham (2-0) found those opportunities early and started fast. Clay-Chalkville played the aggressor taking a ton of shots, but the Panthers were the more efficient team.

Senior Eber Serrano-Tejada was the first Panther to strike, as he gathered a ball that ricocheted off a defender in the seventh minute and drilled a shot into the upper right corner of the net for a 1-0 lead.

The Cougars answered quickly and did so off a set piece just to the outside left of the penalty box. Denilson Mercado unleashed a beautiful shot that bent to the left and off the goalie’s hands into the goal to tie the game at one.

Pelham also found themselves with a free kick just two minutes later. Senior Irvin Rodriguez set up outside the right corner of the box, and despite the goalie favoring the right side of the goal, he fired a grounder that snuck in the goal’s right side to recapture the lead at 2-1.

The first half got very chippy, and the teams played a physical game throughput the match, but McDonald cautioned his players to remain even keeled despite the circumstances.

“If someone comes on your field and plays a brand of soccer that’s a little more physical you feel like you have to match that,” McDonald said. “But that’s not going to make us a successful team, so I felt like we settled in a little more in the second half and tried to find spaces where we could exploit them on their side of the field and we found some quality looks.”

The first to get a look was senior Greg Blue, who broke wide open off the defense’s long clearance in the 47th minute and nudged the ball past a charging goalie for the score.

“Greg and Irvin both had to change positions due to some injuries, and their play in the middle prevented Clay from taking advantage like they had in the first half,” McDonald said. “Pelham finally had some breathing room at 3-1, but it was short-lived, as the Cougars made good off another set piece a minute later.

Kevin Pacheco-Bardales blasted the shot from 30 yards out finding the left corner of the net to return the deficit to one. The game went scoreless for a little more than 20 minutes of play until Jaylen Cook found his opportunity in the 71st minute.

The Cougars defense failed to clear an entry pass from one of Cook’s teammates, and the senior left winger pounced for a short score in front of the goal.

Clay scored again a few minutes later as Pelham’s goalie let a routine floater slip through his hands, between his legs and slowly roll into the net.

The Cougars made a hard charge to tie the game in the final minutes, but Pelham staved off the attack to seal the victory.

Clay-Chalkville had 20 total shots, but could only keep eight of them on goal. Pelham goalkeeper David Clinton played a big role making eight saves to pick up the win.

The Panthers took 10 shots, but was able to keep five on target and scored on four of those five.

“It’s going to be a struggle every single game with these teams, because they want to give us a good game,” McDonald said. “It means something to beat Pelham.”

The Panthers will head to the Lakeshore Shootout this weekend which will be located on the Sports Blast 280 Fields. Pelham is scheduled to play their first game there Friday, Feb 15 at 4 p.m.

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