File photo – Little 4 rivals St. Bernard’s and Ferndale both played non-conference games against Big 4 schools on Saturday.

It was a busy day of non-conference action for the H-DNL girls teams on Saturday.

At McKinleyville, the host Panthers edged Del Norte 2-1 thanks to a pair of goals from Grace Pimentel.

The Eureka Loggers were also in action and barely got the better of South Fork 4-3, while the Tigers beat St. Bernard’s 2-0 at Arcata High School.

And rounding out a big day for the league teams, rivals Ferndale and Fortuna tied 2-2.

McKinleyville and Del Norte faced off in an entertaining and closely fought game, with Pimentel’s two second-half strikes proving to the difference.

The Mack standout opened the scoring after the interval, netting off a corner kick, with her younger sister Abigail Pimentel providing the assist.

Bella White, who had a good game for the visitors, pulled her team level, before a spectacular second goal by Grace Pimentel secured the victory for the home team, this one from 25 yards out.

“It was a very good game,” McKinleyville head coach Adam Canepa said. “Both teams played very even. It was back and forth.”

Del Norte head coach Shawn Eckart echoed the sentiment.

“They have some really good shooters, McKinleyville,” he said. “It was definitely a battle for sure.”

There were several standouts on both teams.

The two Pimentel sisters both had big game sin midfield and worked well together, as did the always impressive Del Norte pairing of Hollyn Wakefield and Aurora Mitchell.

Check out both of Grace Pimentel’s goals from Saturday below, including a spectacular long range effort for the winning goal …

“They were all over the place,” Eckart said of the experienced Del Norte tandem.

McKinleyville team captain Emily Mather also had a good game for the home team, while teammates Eliska Crowell and Amara Som did a good job helping to anchor the team defense.

“I thought they had an amazing game,” Canepa said of the standout defensive duo.

For Del Norte, Sydney Moerke played up front for the first time and enjoyed a productive day, while the versatile White contributed on the wing and in attack.

“She’s a versatile player, which is nice to have,” Eckart said of White.

At Eureka, meanwhile, the Cubs pushed the defending Big 4 and North Coast Section champs all the way in an exciting one-goal battle.

And they did it with strong performances from throughout their lineup.

“It was a total team effort today,” head coach Beth Anderson said. “The girls played tough, never gave up and everyone contributed.

“The transition from defense to offense and our passing improves with each game.”

Hannah Savio scored a hat trick for the visitors, while goalkeeper Aurora Galaz continued to impress and made 12 saves to keep her team in contention.

Multiple South Fork midfielders also impressed, with Kara Worswick, Calleigh Smith, Zoe Bignon and Elizabeth Chivington all making their presence felt.

“The girls showed what it means to play as a team, play unselfishly and support each other today, Anderson said. “Although we were disappointed we didn’t get the final equalizer, the game should provide momentum headed into our second league matchup this week.”

No details were immediately available for the Loggers.

At Fortuna, meanwhile, the rival Huskies and Wildcats shared the spoils on Milk Can weekend.

Isabel Sanchez and Madison Miller both scored for the home team.

“It was a hard-fought game from both teams, each of us dominating certain periods of the game,” Fortuna head coach Arnulfo Aguirre said.

The Huskies came out fast and opened up an early 2-0 lead, but the Cats would come storming back after a slow start.

“I think we were real flat and gun shy for the first 25 minutes,” Ferndale head coach Bailey Davy said. “We really struggled with offsides today, which is not normal for us, and I really think that took away some of our opportunities.”

After a “very serious” chat with the players at halftime, they righted the ship.

“They did much better with it in the second half, but overall the girls played well,” Davy added. “We adjusted after the two goals and kind of turned things around.”

Freshman Madison Hagemann opened the Cats’ account late in the first half with Madison Gossi assisting on the goal.

Gossi would tie the game after the break on an assist from Macie Hagemann.

Like most of the H-DNL teams at this stage of the season, the Huskies are coming together but still a work in progress.

“Overall the team had a fair game that could have been better,” the Fortuna coach added.