File photo – The Del Norte Warriors are unbeaten in five straight games.
The most improved team in H-DNL girls soccer from the start of the season has to be the Del Norte Warriors.
A young Warriors team continued to roll with another impressive showing on Wednesday when they defeated Ferndale 2-1 to stretch their unbeaten run to five straight.
After dropping their opening two games in the Little 4, the Warriors have gone 3-0-2 since then and remain in the hunt for the league title, just one win behind of frontrunners St. Bernard’s and Ferndale.
The Del Norte defense of Hollyn Wakefield, Haley Moerke, Aurora Mitchell and Kalyn Schaad has been particularly impressive during their unbeaten run and along with goalkeeper Deja Payne they have allowed just two goals in the last four games.
Midfielders Arriana Pennington, Chaney Schaad and Lily Schaad also stepped up their game on Wednesday and helped contain a dangerous Wildcats attack.
Alexis Aguirre and Anyessa Bettega both scored in the win.
With one week to go in the Little 4, St. Bernard’s is 4-1-1 and has three games remaining, including back-to-back games against South Fork and Del Norte on Friday and Saturday.
Ferndale is now 4-2-2 with just one remaining game at St. Bernard’s on Wednesday, and that’s a showdown that could decide the league championship.
In other H-DNL girls soccer on Wednesday, Arcata won a key game in the race for second place in the Big 4, defeating Fortuna 6-2.
Zoe Macknicki and Alia Prentiss each scored twice in the win, while Grace Townsend and Kyla Berman each also scored.
The influential Macknicki also had three assists and was involved in five of her team’s goals, with Berman also assisting on one of the goals.
Equally impressive was the play of freshman goalkeeper Gabriela Cavinta, who was outstanding between the posts and helped keep her team in the game.
Cavinta, who was playing in the goal for the first time, finished with 18 saves.
With the win, the Tigers improved to 3-3-1 in the Big 4 with two games remaining, while Fortuna is now 2-4-1.
