The Arcata boys won on Thursday night to remain unbeaten in the H-DNL, while the Eureka Loggers also won to keep the pressure on them.
And both victories were achieved thanks to some creative corner kicks.
At Eureka High, the Loggers scored off a corner kick in the opening minute of the game and would hold on for a 2-1 win over Del Norte, while at McKinleyville, Miles Kraemer netted directly from a corner kick as the Tigers beat the Panthers 2-0.
Tomas Paoli was instrumental again for the Loggers, who dominated the midfield and did a good job in defense containing a dangerous Del Norte attack.
Paoli scored his team’s second goal midway through the second half, when he received possession just outside the box, dribbled past a couple of defenders and netted off a wonderful shot from 18 yards out.
His influence, however, went beyond that and the junior worked well in midfield along with teammates Trenton Gerber and Will Mooney.
“They played a fantastic game,” Eureka head coach Eddie Garcia said of the energetic trio. “They totally dominated in midfield.”
Del Norte head coach David Sanyaolu agreed.
“We did not connect well with our passes and Eureka played very well, especially in midfield, and converted their chances,” he said.
The home team took an early lead when Makai Dennon netted on an Ean Savage corner kick and they led throughout, with the visitors pulling one back late in the game on a Brandt Pennington penalty kick.
Savage also impacted the game at the back, along with teammates Jiagdae Her, Joe Morris and Kaleb Green, all of whom worked well together holding the Warriors’ front line scoreless from play.
“They are really starting to click,” said Garcia, who aded “I think our passing game was beautiful. We were able to maintain possession for long periods.”
Diego Rivas and Noah Wagar both also impressed up front for the Loggers, who improved to 3-0-2 in league play.
The Arcata Tigers, meanwhile, improved to 3-0-1 with their victory over the Panthers.
In addition to Kraemer’s impressive goal, Ethan Gyenis added a second goal for the home team on a powerful low shot from outside the box.
The Tigers play Fortuna on Saturday.
Categories: Arcata, Del Norte, Eureka, McKinleyville, Soccer
Scoring directly from the corner kick should never, ever occur…bad goal keeping position…Goal Keeper may not be obstructed on the goal line, so free movement on the goal line between the posts is legally provided…
…in EA Sports FIFA soccer, the software is flawed bigly with corner kicks, allows goals directly (show any real pro score directly off a corner – it does not happen)…as well as other software created by corporate dimwits that does not recognize the ball being out of bounds “only when the whole of the ball” crosses the line completely.