File photo
It’s starting to click for the McKinleyville Panthers on the boys soccer field.
On Saturday, they traveled to Crescent City and came away with a hard-fought 1-1 tie against the defending league champs, turning in one of their best performances in recent times.
“We really turned it around,” said McKinleyville head coach Ryne Deppe. “We really just put all the pieces together. They guys have been working towards this and they really did it.”
The tie, which was achieved at arguably the most difficult place to play at in the H-DNL and against a team known for its stellar defense, was a nice response for a McKinleyville team that had given up winning goals in the final few minutes of its first two league games.
The Del Norte boys, who came into the game with a record of 2-0 in league play, scored first when Daniel Gomez netted from a set piece.
But the Panthers responded before halftime on a Rylee Collart goal, with an assist form Pedro Ramirez.
Both teams held the other scoreless in the second half.
“It was just one of those games where chances were few and far between,” Del Norte head coach David Sanyaolu said. “Our offense was not as sharp and McKinleyville played a solid game. They gave little away.”
The Warriors are now 2-0-1 and still unbeaten in league play, while the Panthers are now 0-2-1 in league.
And Deppe felt the performance was one all of his players could be proud of.
“The whole team played well,” he said. “Even in the games we’ve been in, we haven’t really truly played to our ability. But today it was beautiful.”
The ever-consistent Gaelen Creighton turned in another strong performance at the back, as he has been doing for much of the season, while sophomore defensive midfielder Lucas Jones had one of his best games yet for the team.
“He was always in the right place at the right time,” Deppe said of the young standout.
Freshman Becker Rine also had an outstanding day for the visitors, as he continues to quickly adapt to the high school game.
According to Deppe, Rine’s effort and solid play stood out.
File photo
Categories: Del Norte, McKinleyville, Soccer
Hey,
The old photos for just completed matches is not a good look, imho. If no photo, it is aok… the write-ups are what is important.
It reads like McKinleyville has the defense, but maybe must learn how to go 80 minutes++ defensively. Offensively, it reads like McKinleyville is behind Arc, For, DN, and maybe even EHS.
DN reads like it has a top defense with an offense that is nothing spectacular, but that which has fortunate timing.
Arc reads like it has best offense, with an inconsistent defense.
For reads as most well-balanced
Eur reads like it has an undefined offense and a defense which is like Arc, inconsistent.