Photos by Jennipher Willis – Genesis Medrano in action for the Cubs on Wednesday.

It wasn’t their best performance of the season, but the South Fork Cubs continued to get the results they need to keep them in contention for this year’s North Coast Section playoffs in girls soccer and perhaps more.

On Wednesday evening, the Cubs won their second straight Little 4 game, edging a shorthanded Ferndale team 2-1 to take over sole possession of second place in the conference standings.

The in-form Hannah Savio scored both goals in the win, giving her an impressive six on the season so far.

Kara Worswick assisted on the first goal and Elizabeth Chivington assisted on the second.

Freshman Claire Renner scored for the Wildcats, who had just nine players available for the game as they continue to battle injuries.

The goal was the first of Renner’s high school career.

For more on the Wildcats, see Shorthanded Cats show mental toughness in the face of adversity …

The win for the Cubs follows their breakthrough win over St. Bernard’s last week and leaves them well placed to challenge for conference honors one third of the way through the Little 4 schedule.

But it was a challenging afternoon for the home team.

“Ferndale, you’ve got to give them a lot of credit. They played with nine players beautifully,” South Fork head coach Ann Constantino said. “We were lucky to get away with this win.”

The Wildcats took the lead just a few minutes in on Renner’s strike, but the Cubs would battle back with two unanswered goals before halftime to give them a lead they would not relinquish.

South Fork goalkeeper Aurora Galaz gathers the ball during Wednesday’s game.

South Fork’s Kendall Kercher

“We came out and didn’t really play like a team,” Constantino added. “It was constant scrambling for 80 minutes to keep them from tying and going ahead.”

South Fork goalkeeper Aurora Galaz and her defense helped keep the Ferndale attack at bay, with the ever-consistent shot stopper turning in another composed performance between the posts and finishing with five saves.

Constantino described Galaz as “very steady.”

Defensively, Molly Perkins and Kamea Hawkins both played well to help anchor the back line, while Calleigh Smith also had a good game on the wing.

Next up, the Cubs will play a non-conference game at McKinleyville on Saturday, with kickoff set for 3:30 p.m.

Hannah Savio (19) scored both of South Fork’s goals in Wednesday’s win.