Photos by Lance Pimentel of Sports Shots Photography – Sisters Abi (left) and Grace Pimentel of McKinleyville celebrate one of the latter’s two goals against St. Bernard’s on Saturday.

The McKinleyville girls rediscovered their shooting touch in front of goal on Saturday as the Panthers swept a doubleheader of soccer games against St. Bernard’s.

After being held scoreless in their three previous games, the Mack girls ended that run with a 3-1 win in a non-conference showdown.

The McKinleyville boys also won their game against SB by a score of 11-0, posting their first win in H-DNL action.

The girls put together one of their best performances of the season.

“I thought we played pretty well,” head coach Brady Burtchett said. “It was probably the first game where we played the full 80 minutes as a team.

“Defense, midfield and forwards. Our forwards were attacking really well and we had lots of opportunities to score.”

Abi Pimental netted twice in the win, while teammate Mary Ann Som added the third goal.

Som and Grace Pimentel helped set the tone with physical performances in midfield, while the ever-dangerous Gabby Watson continued to cause problems in attack.

“It was a weight lifted off our shoulders,” Burtchett added.

Freshman Ella Eads scored the only goal of the game for the Crusaders, netting for the first time in her high school career.

However, with a plethora of early-season injuries St. Bernard’s is a team still coming together.

“As a team we’re still getting to know each other,” head coach Jeff Sellars said. “We’ve got so many moving parts with people out and new people in, and it showed unfortunately at key moments of the game.

“But I thought there were still some bright spots. I thought our defense had some stellar moments.”

Addison Burris had a big game in the heart of the St. Bernard’s defense and helped keep her team in contention.

“I thought she had a fantastic game,” the head coach said of the center back. “She was very active, very tenacious.”

Goalkeeper Sarah Luna also impressed with some big saves as she continues to adapt quickly to the position in her first season ever playing between the posts.

Alyssa Boham also had a good day in defense, while midfielder Eliana Sellars had an immediate impact in her first game back after missing much of the early season through injury.

Eliana Sellars and her center midfielder partner Amber Smith did a good job controlling the midfield and linking passes with teammate Chloe Grunden.

Both teams will return to conference play on Wednesday, with McKinleyville hosting Arcata and St. Bernard’s traveling to Del Norte.

“It should be a good game,” Burtchett said of the Panthers’ matchup against their biggest rivals. “I think all of the teams (in the H-DNL) are really competitive this year.”

The Mack boys, meanwhile, also won their game against St. Bernard’s on Saturday after several close calls in league play.

Rylee Collart led the way with a dominating performance in the victory and finished the day with a remarkable seven goals.

Caleb Riley, Gaelen Creighton, Wes Wolven and Dorian Rine each also scored for the Panthers, who improved to 1-3-1 in the H-DNL.

The Panthers will be back in action on Tuesday afternoon, when they host the South Fork Cubs at 4 p.m.