File photo – Eureka’s Maia Hales

It took the Eureka girls a while to break down a stubborn and well-organized Arcata defense at Albee Stadium on Thursday, but a resilient Loggers team scored two late goals on the way to a 2-0 win in girls soccer.

The victory keeps the Eureka girls undefeated on the season as they improved to 5-0-1 in league (9-0-1 overall) and took another big step toward a league title.

“As a team, I think that this was the best game that we have played,” Eureka head coach Tommy Learmouth said. “We started quick and we started with an intensity level that Arcata struggled to match.”

The Tigers settled into the game and were able to shut out the league leaders for much of the night.

The Loggers, however, got the breakthrough goal with 15 minutes to go when in-form midfielder Angelina Conant netted from 25 yards out off an assist from Lila Ekholdt.

A few minutes later, Ekholdt put the game beyond doubt with a second goal, with Lorena Hernandes assisting on the score.

Learmouth said it was his team’s best passing game of the season and that they looked “fully in sync.”

“We’re continuing to build,” he said. “We’ve put together three very good performances the last three games.”

Eureka’s only dropped points of the season came in the first league meeting between these two teams last week, and the Tigers came close to frustrating them again.

“Arcata played a really good game,” Learmouth said. “They sat back defensively a lot, but they were organized and did really well.

“It took a while but we were finally able to break through and get that goal from Angelina.”

The Eureka defense of Olivianna Millender, Maia Hales, Paige Rodgers and Marin Matteoli all were outstanding, as was Kaylee Hill, who dropped back and played some defense as well.

The always-consistent Sionna Khattab once again was a rock at the back for the Tigers, while goalkeeper Kyndle Eisner was kept busy but did an outstanding job keeping her team in the game.

“We worked together well as a team,” Arcata head coach Patrick Stranahan said. “Our defensive block worked well.”

With the loss, the Tigers dropped to 1-2-3 in league play and 4-2-3 overall.

Next up, the Tigers will play a make-up non-league game against South Fork at Arcata on Saturday at 3 p.m., before resuming league play at Fortuna on Tuesday.

Also on Tuesday, Eureka hosts McKinleyville.