File photo
There was little to separate the two Del Norte soccer teams and their opponents in a pair of North Coast Section Division-1 playoff games on Friday.
The Del Norte boys traveled to San Francisco to take on International in their second postseason game in 48 hours and fell 4-3 in overtime.
The Del Norte girls played a few hours later in Rohnert Park in a game that also went to overtime.
This one, however, would end up in the Warriors’ favor, with the visitors prevailing 2-1.
The win sets up a quarterfinal showdown for the No. 6 seeds on Wednesday against either No. 2 Fortuna or No. 7 Clear Lake, who face off in their quarterfinal in Fortuna on Saturday evening.
If the Huskies win, they will likely host Wednesday’s game, but if Clear Lake can upset Fortuna, then it would likely be played in Crescent City.
And that would be a nice reward for a Del Norte team that clinched a first-ever conference championship in the sport this season but was denied the privilege of hosting their playoff opener because Credo was also a league champion and a higher seed.
The two teams were tied 1-1 after the opening half and each held the other scoreless in the second period.
The Warriors, however, would net the winner in overtime to keep their memorable season going.
They become the second H-DNL team to qualify for the Division-1 tournament semifinals, following the Eureka Loggers, who beat Upper Lake 7-0 earlier in the day.
If Fortuna wins on Saturday and Arcata gets the better of Willits in the other quarterfinal, then the semifinals would feature four H-DNL teams.
Lillie Franklin and Alexis Aguirre scored for the Del Norte girls.
The Del Norte boys, meanwhile, saw their season end in San Francisco.
In a back-and-forth game the Warriors found themselves trailing by a goal early on but responded with a pair of first-half goals by Mario Ledezma and Deken Hanks to lead 2-1 at halftime.
After one of the Del Norte players received a red card, International enjoyed the better of exchanges in the second half and scored twice to take a 3-2 lead.
File photo – Deken Hanks
However, a second goal by Hanks tied the game again and forced the overtime period.
But it was the home team and higher seeds that netted the decisive goal in the first period of OT to sneak the win and advance to the tournament semifinals.
“My boys showed heart, quality and determination to get back into the game with a man down,” Del Norte head coach David Sanyaolu said.
The loss ends another big season for the Crescent City school, which placed second in league to Fortuna this fall after the same group of players secured just the program’s second-ever league title a year ago.
“I am proud of what this group has achieved this couple of years, especially the seniors who just played their last high school game,” Sanyaolu added.
International will now play the winner of Saturday’s quarterfinal between Eureka and No. 1 seed Head-Royce.
