Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – The McKinleyville Panthers and Arcata Tigers in action last season. Both teams will be on hand at the early-season McKinleyville tournament this weekend.

By Ray Hamill — Local fans will get a chance to check out several of the H-DNL boys soccer teams this weekend, as the McKinleyville Panthers get set to host their annual early-season tournament.

Six local schools will be in action in the eight-team field, with the games kicking off on Friday and running for two days.

And once again, most observers are expecting a competitive league season here on the North Coast after a thrilling race for the H-DNL championship in 2023 that went down to the final week of action.

“It’s going to be a good insight to the whole season,” McKinleyville head Ryne Deppe said of this weekend’s tournament. “Every single team has a chance to win it this year.”

Tournament play begins at noon on Friday with eight games scheduled for opening day.

In addition to the host school, Fortuna, Arcata, Eureka, Del Norte, St. Bernard’s, Willits and Fort Bragg will compete over the two days.

McKinleyville opens against Eureka at noon on Friday, while defending H-DNL champion Del Norte plays Willits, also at noon.

At 2 p.m., Arcata opens against St. Bernard’s and Fortuna plays Fort Bragg, while at 4 p.m., McKinleyville plays Del Norte and Eureka plays Willits.

Rounding out the opening day of games, Arcata plays Fort Bragg and Fortuna plays SB, both at 6 p.m.

Group games continue on Saturday at 9 a.m. and 11 a.m., followed by the tournament playoff games, including the final at 4 p.m.

“It’ll be a good preview for everybody,” Deppe added. “Anybody can win in any single game. It depends on who brings it every day.”

Lats year, the Del Norte boys clinched the H-DNL title with a stellar stretch run, holding off Fortuna, Eureka and Arcata in the final week of the regular season.

And the Panthers will be hoping to be in the mix this year after a good start to the new campaign that saw them defeat the Timberwolves 5-0 in Fort Bragg in their opener in the Upper Lake tournament.

“I think we look good,” Deppe said of his team. “We’re definitely ready to compete and it should be a solid year for us.”

The Panthers also dropped two close games in the early rounds of the Upper Lake tournament here on the North Coast.

They fell 1-0 to Fortuna and 2-1 to Del Norte.

The early games of the Upper Lake tournament are played at various locations before the teams advance to the championship rounds in Upper Lake next week.

The Del Norte Warriors are the defending H-DNL champions and should be among the top contenders once again this year.