Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – Action from Wednesday’s game between Eureka and McKinleyville.

The Huskies got the better of Del Norte, 5-1, in Fortuna on Wednesday as they continue their charge toward another league crown.

With the victory, the Fortuna boys improved to 9-0 in league play with three games remaining and 12-0 overall, and they can officially clinch their eighth straight league championship with a win at Arcata on Saturday.

Lane Shelton continued to impress in attack, scoring three goals for the home team, while Antonio Garcinuno and RJ Rexford each also found the back of the net.

The Huskies led by three at halftime, and after Del Norte had narrowed the gap early in the second half on a Rodolpho Ramirez goal, the home team added two more goals to secure the victory.

“We made a tactical switch to combat Fortuna in a different way from previous meetings at the start, but defensive errors cost us early goals,” Del Norte head coach David Sanyaolu said. “We made a game of it reverting formations in the second half, but playing catchup against a fantastic side as Fortuna is an uphill task.

“My boys put up a good fight and I am proud of their effort.’

Adrian Olea had a big game for Fortuna in the heart of defense.

“He communicated well on the back line,” Fortuna head coach Daniel Holmes said.

Braiden Barsanti also had a good game for the Huskies on the right wing.

“He’s smart on the ball,” Holmes said of Barsanti. “He’s coming along.”

With the loss, the Warriors are now 2-5-2 in the Big 5 and 3-5-2 overall.

Del Norte plays at Eureka on Saturday.

Eureka defender Ty Bauer congratulates goalkeeper Aidan Sloper after his clean sheet at McKinleyville on Wednesday.

Eureka 1, McKinleyville 0

Makai Dennon scored the only goal of the game on a wonderful strike as the Eureka Loggers won at McKinleyville on Wednesday.

The two teams had played to a tie in each of their previous two league meetings this season.

Diego Rivas assisted on the goal, and the visitors enjoyed some stellar play from the midfield quartet of David Parra, Chiashi Her, Vic Vang and Tomas Paoli.

Paoli’s performance was particularly gratifying after the Eureka midfielder just recently returned from injury, and he has been a nice addition to the lineup late in the season.

The Eureka back line of Joe Morris, Ty Bauer, Jiagdae Her and Ean Savage also had another strong showing, as did goalie Aidan Sloper, who made some nice stops to preserve the lead in a tight game and finished with the clean sheet.

“The team dominated possession,” Eureka head coach Eddie Garcia said. “We missed too many opportunities to put the game away sooner.

“Props to McKinleyville who fought hard to the end.”

A young Panthers team has struggled to get results the past few weeks but the players are continuing to show improvement and continue to battle.

“I’m happy with the way this team doesn’t give up and keeps their head up no matter the circumstances they are put under,” head coach Ryne Deppe said.

The win was Eureka’s first in the Big 5 this season and the Loggers are now 1-4-4 in the Big 5 and 5-5-5 overall.

Mack dropped to 0-6-3 in conference play and 0-8-4 overall.