File photo – Del Norte and St. Bernard’s will face of fin Crescent City on Saturday.

The Del Norte Warriors clinched at least a share of the Little 4 championship in girls soccer on Wednesday evening.

The Del Norte girls, who have lost just once in seven conference games, defeated South Fork 5-2 to improve to 5-1-1 in the Little 4.

And with St. Bernard’s held to yet another tie with Ferndale, that leaves the Warriors four points clear at the top of the standings with just two games remaining.

The Crusaders can still tie them for the championship with wins in their final two games, including a big showdown in Crescent City on Saturday.

If, however, the Warriors can secure at least a tie in either of their final two games they will be crowned outright champs and host a North Coast Section playoff game.

Humboldt Sports believe this is the first time the Del Norte girls have won a conference championship in girls soccer.

The Warriors started Wednesday’s game on the front foot and netted twice in the opening few minutes.

Both of the early goals were scored by Lilly Franklin.

“She was on fire,” Del Norte head coach Shawn Eckart said. 

The Cubs, however would battle back with a pair of goals to pull even.

Freshman Kendall Kercher scored her first-ever high school goal to half the deficit and the impressive left winger would assist on the second goal, which was scored by Hannah Savio.

Unfortunately for the Cubs that was the last time they would find the back of the net and the Warriors would re-take the lead late in the opening half when Lilly Schaad volleyed home from a corner kick to give her team some momentum heading into the break.

The Del Norte girls enjoyed the better of exchanges in the second half and added two more goals to their tally.

After missing her team’s weekend game because of an injury, influential midfielder Alexis Aguirre marked her return to the lineup with a goal, before Elisabeth Lopez closed out the scoring with a good individual effort, dribbling past a pair of defenders and scoring on a well-placed shot into the top corner.

Schaad had one of her best games for the Warriors and was the “MVP of the game,” according to her coach.

Jaden Bennett also impressed after coming in for an injured teammate in the second half.

“She moved the ball well and did really well,” Eckart said of Bennett. “She really impressed me.”

The second half was a disappointing one for the Cubs.

“We were very disorganized,” South Fork head coach Ann Constantino said. “We just didn’t play well. We had a lot of unforced errors and poor organization.”

Kercher turned in a strong performance in the loss, as did teammates Genesis Medrano, who has been one of her team’s best players over the second half of the season, and Savio, who continues to be one of the biggest scoring threats in the league.

File photo

St. Bernard’s and Ferndale, meanwhile, tied for the third time in three conference matchups.

The Wildcats took a first-half lead on a Macie Hagemann free kick, before Eliana Sellars equalized for the Crusaders.

Neither team was able to add to their tally after the break.

“We had multiple chances but we just couldn’t get it over the line,” St. Bernard’s head coach Jeff Sellars said. 

The Wildcats, who have been shorthanded because of injuries for much of the season, had to play with just nine players with influential defender Michaela Ellsmore sidelined.

“Overall it was a well-played game,” Ferndale head coach Bailey Davy said. “I was happy with how we played. We matched up well with St. Bernard’s.”

Eliana Sellars continued to impress for the Crusaders with her footwork and she consistently caused the Ferndale defense problems, while teammates Amber Smith and Alyssa Boham both did a good job linking well with their teammates and helping to set the attacks in motion.

And once again the ever-consistent Sahara Tupua helped anchor the SB defense.

“It would have been a different game without her defense and tenacity back there,” Jeff Sellars said of the hard-working Tupua.

Goalkeeper Tinnley Pidgeon also had a good game for the Wildcats, particularly in the second half, making three big back-to-back-to-back saves at one stage to keep the SB attack at bay.

“St. Bernard’s was getting some great looks on goal towards the end,” said Davy, who added “(Pidgeon) kept us in the game.”

The loss of Ellsmore forced the Ferndale coaches to switch up their lineup, but several of her teammates stepped up to the challenge, particularly freshman defender Claire Renner.

“I was very impressed with how the girls adapted to new positions,” Davy said. “Missing Michaela is a huge loss for us, but Claire Renner filled that position without hesitation and filled it well.”

Madison Gossi, who has been one of the team’s most impressive players recently, continued to shine and hit the post early in the game before winning the free kick that led to Hagemann’s goal.

Despite playing with just nine players for most of their games this season, the Wildcats have matched up well against their Little 4 opponents and have now tied three of their last four conference games.