The Arcata and Fortuna girls both won non-conference matchups on Saturday, while another scheduled H-DNL game was canceled.
Senior Sionna Khattab scored both goals for the Tigers in a 2-0 win over Del Norte at Arcata High.
Both goals came off set pieces late in the game with the second coming in the dying seconds.
“We started the game today pretty flat coming off a big win over Fortuna (on Wednesday),” Arcata head coach Matt Ingram said. “It felt like we let our guard down, but we bounce back in the second half with greater intensity.”
Khattab’s first goal came on a spectacular effort on a free kick from almost 40 yards out.
Juniors Gabby Cavinta and Jada Lusk and freshman Anna Gruetzmacher all combined well in the middle of the field for the Tigers and helped settle the team into the game with some strong passing.
And they weren’t only standouts in the win.
Sonja Vevoda-Whalig had a big game in goal and made a couple of big saves on her way to a clean sheet.
“It was a great team effort today,” the Arcata coach added.
Midfielders Alexis Aguirre And Aurora Mitchell continued to shine for the Warriors, as did goalkeeper Deja Payne.
Payne, who has been one of the most impressive shot stoppers in the H-DNL this season, finished with 11 saves and kept her team in contention for much of the afternoon.
Lily Franklin also impressed for the visitors and caused consistent problems for the Arcata defense.
The Fortuna girls, meanwhile, started fast against South Fork and led 4-0 after 20 minutes on the way to a 5-2 win.
Five different Fortuna players got on the scoresheet, with Raigan Brooks, Jocelyn Dahl, Amy Aubuchon, Brooklyn Gonzalez and Isabel Sanchez each netting once.
“We were controlling the tempo and controlling the pace of the game,” said Fortuna head coach Arnulfo Aguirre, who gave some of his younger players some valuable game time in the second half. “Overall, we found a way to control the game and play smart.”
The Cubs, to their credit, would settle into the game and matched their Big 4 opponents in the second half.
“We came out pretty flat,” South Fork head coach Ann Constantino said. “We just weren’t clicking today, but we played them really tight in the second half.”
Hannah Savio scored the Cubs’ opener in the first half, with Genesis Medrano assisting on the score.
Makenzie Brewer netted in the second half off a corner kick by Medrano, giving the latter two assists on the afternoon.
Goalkeeper Aurora Galaz also continued to impress for the Cubs and made 14 saves, including 10 in the second half.
“She was really on it today,” Constantino said of Galaz.
The Ferndale and Eureka game, meanwhile, was canceled due to the growing list of injuries on the Wildcats team right now.
