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The second half of league play in H-DNL boys soccer got off to a very different start than the first half.

On Tuesday afternoon, the McKinleyville Panthers hosted the league-leading Arcata Tigers and ran out to a big 5-0 win.

The loss was the first for the Tigers in league play as they dropped to 6-1, while the Panthers kept their championship hopes alive and did the other contenders a big favor in the process.

“We’ve just been putting it together slowly this season and we full on turned the corner (on Tuesday),” McKinleyville head coach Ryne Deppe.

The victory avenged an earlier 3-1 loss to the Tigers, who won that game with a pair of late goals.

Four different McKinleyville players scored in the win, including impressive freshman Becker Rine, who has quickly adapted to the varsity level and has been performing at a high level in recent weeks.

Rine netted twice in the win to lead a dangerous Panthers attack, with Rylee Collart, Andy Garcia and Gaelen Creighton each also scoring.

The win lifts the Panthers to 3-3-1 in league play and this is a team that has been competitive in every game.

“Besides one half against Fortuna, we’ve been playing incredibly well,” Deppe added. “They’ve worked hard for it. They earned it.”

The McKinleyville front three of Garcia, Collart and Rine continued to impress, as did ever-consistent defender Creighton, who anchored the back line and helped pave the way to the shutout.

“It was a team victory,” Deppe said. “But those three guys up front applied a lot of pressure and Gaelen was an incredible force at the back.”

The Tigers are missing three key seniors because of injuries and personal reasons, including standout Daniel Hernandez, while another key contributor, Izaiah Grosveld is also limited with an injury right now.

But head coach John Davidson wasn’t using that as an excuse.

“The bottom line is Ryne’s team has developed into a formidable force,” he said. “They’ve improved since the last time we played them.

“Their defense looked solid and they moved the ball better than us. And they had a good attitude, good energy and played together as a team.

“Hats off to Ryne and (assistant coach) Tim Laney, they’ve been working hard and the score doesn’t lie.”

The Tigers pressed high early in the game, but that strategy “backfired on us,” according to Davidson.

“We really struggled with the moment and I was shellshocked with that,” he added. “It was a tough pill to swallow.”

Next up, on Saturday, McKinleyville hosts Eureka and the Arcata boys will try to bounce back when they host St. Bernard’s.

“We’re going to have to top back to the drawing board,” said Davidson, who will continue to be without some of his key injured players for the foreseeable future.

Arcata now has 12 points in league play, while McKinleyville has seven with five games remaining for each.

In other H-DNL action on Tuesday, Del Norte defeated Eureka 3-1 and improved to 4-1-1 (nine points) to move within three points of the Tigers with a game in hand.

The Loggers dropped to 3-4 (six points).

The Fortuna boys played a night game at South Fork.