The surging McKinleyville Panthers rolled to an impressive 8-1 win over the Eureka Loggers in H-DNL boys soccer on Saturday.
The win follows an equally impressive 5-0 win over Arcata earlier in the week and catapults the Panthers back into championship contention.
Also in action on Saturday, the Fortuna Huskies defeated Del Norte 1-0 and Arcata got back to winning ways with a 12-0 win over St. Bernard’s.
The Tigers remain atop the league standings with a record of 7-1 (14 points), with Fortuna close behind on 12 points and Del Norte and McKinleyville tied for third with nine points, although the Warriors have a game in hand.
The big story of the day, however, was once again the Panthers, who netted four times in each half on the way to the win.
Remarkably, one of their goals on Saturday was scored by goalkeeper Nick Maher from his own box.
Maher launched the ball downfield and his attackers shielded it from the Eureka defense and goalkeeper before it bounced over the keeper into the back of the net untouched.
“It was one heck of a punt,” McKinleyville head coach Ryne Deppe said.
The McKinleyville front three of Andy Garcia, Rylee Collart and freshman Becker Rine continued to impress and caused problems for the Eureka defense all game, with Garcia and Collart each scoring a pair of goals.
“I’d say they’re the top attacking three in the league,” Deppe said.
Check out video highlights of one of Andy Garcias’s goals above, with an assist by teammate Rylee Collart …
And they’re getting plenty of support from the hottest team in the H-DNL right now and a squad that is clicking on all cylinders as we head towards the business end of the season.
Dorian Rine, Caleb Riley and Jake Gardner each also scored in the win.
“We’ve been playing well for a while now,” the head coach added. “We’re attacking well together and we’re possessing the ball and finding the open guy. We’re playing together.”
There were several standouts on the day for the Panthers, including the defensive midfield pairing of Lucas Jones and August Gonzalez, who continue to do a good job helping to set the Mack attack in motion.
“They protect the back line and they allow the top three to attack,” Deppe said. “And it’s beautiful to watch.
“It’s good to be clicking at he right time.”
Kyan Green scored the only goal of the game for the Loggers, who dropped to 3-5 in league play.
At Fortuna, meanwhile, the Huskies took care of business against the Warriors in what was a key matchup for both contenders.
Jesus Herrerra scored a late game-winning goal to break the deadlock as the Fortuna boys improved to 6-2 in league play.
“It could have gone either way,” Fortuna head coach Daniel Holmes said. “Both teams did well and it was a good high school match.”
Owen Wallen, who is enjoying a good season at the back for the Huskies, had another big performance to help keep the visitors at bay.
The loss was just the second in league play for Del Norte, which dropped to 4-2-1.
The Arcata Tigers, meanwhile, remain atop the league standings after netting six times in each half against the Crusaders.
Sophomore Victor Vega was involved in seven of the team’s goals, netting six times and adding an assist.
Junior Julian Gillespie also scored twice and had an assist, with Daniel Davidson and Dakota Grosveld each scoring a goal and both assisting on three more.
Isaac Ingram and Cruz Aguilar Miner also scored in the win, while Winston Stratton, Tex Larsen and Lars Gerdes each also had an assist.
