Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – Fortuna Moncerrat Bernal controls the ball during Wednesday’s game at McKinleyville.

By Ray Hamill — The Fortuna Huskies have yet to meet their match in girls soccer this season, and they’ve yet to play a complete game.

On Wednesday, slow starts continued to plague the unbeaten Huskies, who also continued to find a way to overcome them, pulling out a 5-2 win at McKinleyville.

“We definitely need to continue to try and figure out how to put a full match together,” said Fortuna head coach Kathleen Lynch, whose team improved to 9-0 overall and 5-0 in the H-DNL, moving the Huskies into a tie atop the standings along with two-time defending champions Eureka. “It was not our best outing, and I definitely was not pleased with the start. McKinleyville did a good job getting on us right away.”

Trailing by two goals early in the game, however, the Huskies battled back with five unanswered goals to pull out what was a comfortable win in the end.

The in-form Sarah Killfoil netted three times in the win, giving her eight goals in her last three games, while teammate Aubrie Hall scored twice.

Fortuna’s Nyah Cacren had a big say in midfield on Wednesday.

Each also had an assist, while Fortuna’s Nyah Cacren set up a pair of goals and had a big say throughout in center mid, particularly in the second half when she began to control the flow of the game.

Sophia Reyes scored twice for the home team, which came storming out of the gates and impressed early on.

“It hurts to give up a two-zero lead, but props to Fortuna for not giving up and fighting back,” McKinleyville head coach Adam Canepa said. 

Rayn Tripp and Lindsey Maher each had an assist for the Panthers, who dropped to 1-4 in league play.

Defensively, sweeper Katelyn Murphy and stopper Olivia Rink each also played well for the home team.

Despite the sluggish start, Lynch was happy with how her players grew into the game.

“There were some good responses,” the Fortuna head coach said. 

At the back, the return from injury of senior Gisselle Cruz added depth to an already strong back line, where she had an immediate impact.

Just as Cruz returned to the lineup, however, Molly Hernandez, who has been playing well recently, was forced from the game with an ankle injury.

It’s been that way for much of the season for the Huskies, who have featured numerous different lineups as a result.

“The girls are doing a good job just stepping into roles,” Lynch said. “Different girls are responding well.”