1 of 16

Pelham’s boys soccer team took down McAdory 5-0 in the second round of the playoffs to pick up head coach Patrick McDonald’s 200th win, while the girls took down Hillcrest-Tuscaloosa on the road to make school history. (For the Reporter/Larry Dancy)

By ALEC ETHEREDGE | Managing Editor

Despite being 60 miles apart, the Pelham boys and girls soccer teams continued historic runs on Tuesday, April 27 with playoff wins.

The girls continued their best season in school history by taking down Hillcrest-Tuscaloosa on the road 4-2 to remain unbeaten and advance to the Elite Eight for the first time in school history.

At home, the boys also punched their ticket to the Elite Eight by shutting out McAdory 5-0 for their ninth win in a row.

A big reason for the success of the girls was Taylor Pilcher, who continued a remarkable season with a hat trick against the Patriots on the road to account for three of Pelham’s four goals in the win.

She was joined by Michel Cruz in the scoring column with one goal, as the Panthers picked up a 4-2 win to remain unbeaten on the season and get within one win of the Final Four.

As the No. 4 team in the state, Pelham is now 17-0-1 overall and will get a matchup with Northridge in the quarterfinals.

The boys also took advantage of a hat trick in their shutout victory thanks to three goals from Miguel Obando in the win.

The Panthers got the scoring started in the first five minutes off the foot of Kevin Garcia who gave them the 1-0 lead with 35:20 left in the opening half.

Obando then struck with his first goal of the half five minutes later with 30:32 left to give Pelham a 2-0 lead. That was the first of two in a row from him in the half, as he added his second of the half with 1:09 to play to give the Panthers a 3-0 lead at the break.

In the second half, Marvin Ornelas joined in on the scoring with his lone goal of the night to help the Panthers take what looked to be an insurmountable 4-0 lead.

Then, with 15:24 left to play, Obando put it out of reach with his hat-trick goal, bringing the game to its final score of 5-0.

The win also marked the 200th of head coach Patrick McDonald’s career with the Panthers.

The girls will now host Northridge Friday at 5:30 p.m., while the boys will host rival Helena at 7:30 p.m.

More Sports

Shelby County Football Show: Playoffs Round 1

Oak Mountain embracing challenges in first year of Harris era

Briarwood leaning on returning core to face 5A challenges

Montevallo seeks next step in Kevin Smith’s second year, jump to 5A