Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – South Fork and St. Bernard’s faced off at Crusader Field on Tuesday afternoon.

The Ferndale Wildcats took over sole possession of top spot in the Little 4 standings with a 3-0 win in Crescent City on Tuesday afternoon.

The win was the second straight in conference for the Ferndale girls, who stretched their unbeaten run to eight straight games.

Also in the Little 4 on Tuesday, the St. Bernard’s Crusaders got back to winning ways with a 3-0 win at home against South Fork.

Up in Crescent City, the Cats were forced to play with no subs after two of their players suffered injuries over the weekend.

Junior Giana Regli, who was enjoying a big season with the team, is out indefinitely, while two-time conference MVP goalkeeper Tinnley Pidgeon also missed the game but is expected back soon.

In their absence, their teammates picked up the slack, including junior McKenzie Chambers, who played between the posts for the first time in her high school career and recorded the clean sheet.

“We don’t normally play well up there, so that was a nice change. The girls played well,” head coach Bailey Davy said. “The whole team stepped up, with no subs and the injuries.”

The Warriors also were short-handed for the game, with influential holding midfielder Aurora Mitchell missing through injury, although she is expected back as soon as this weekend.

“Ferndale is a very solid team, they’re well-coached and a nice group of kids,” Del Norte head coach Shawn Eckart said. “But I have to admit, I think we should have done better. I think we need to work on our offense more.”

Madison Hagemann scored twice in the first half to give the visitors a two-goal advantage at the break, before Teresa Catana added a third goal in the second half.

Abigail Gossi assisted on the opening goal, while the impressive Claire Renner assisted on the second.

Renner helped anchor a strong defensive performance at stopper, alongside the equally impressive Michaela Elsmore at sweeper.

Sophomore Annabelle White had a good game for the Warriors on the wing, where she is quickly establishing herself as a reliable and consistent team player, while Avery Ritter had another big day between the posts as she continues her impressive season in goal.

At St. Bernard’s, meanwhile, the home team scored all three of its goals in the opening half and held on after the break, improving to 1-1 in the Little 4.

Eliana Sellars, Macie Wantt and CJ Figas each scored in the win.

It was a nice response after a one-goal loss to Ferndale to open conference play a week ago.

“I was very pleased with the team’s performance today,” SB head coach Jeff Sellars said. “We’ve had different lineups for every game of the season, so I’m proud of the work they’ve put in to figure out all these moving parts.

“It’s nice to see things from the training ground make it into games.”

The loss was the second in conference play for the Cubs, but the players, to their credit, never backed down from the challenge even when they found themselves three goals down at the break.

“I know the girls gave full effort, and I’m very proud of them for their hustle and effort,” South Fork head coach Beth Anderson said. “It just didn’t really come together today.”

There were several standouts for the Crusaders, including the play of Eliana Sellars and Figas, who combined up front to stretch the South Fork defense and create multiple scoring opportunities.

Had it not been for some outstanding saves by South Fork goalkeeper Aurora Galaz, the gap would have been wider at the break.

Eliana, in particular, was a nightmare matchup at times down the left wing, winding her way past South Fork defenders and creating multiple scoring opportunities.

“Eliana had some really stellar dribbling and passing sequences,” the SB coach said.

Amber Smith also had a huge game for the home team and helped to dictate play from midfield.

“Amber Smith had an amazing game, playing in multiple positions and controlling the game wherever she was on the pitch,” Jeff Sellars said.

Check out Eliana Sellars’ goal below …

At the back, the SB defense of Chloe Grunden, Paula Bullock, Carli Baum and Xochiti Granados also continued to impress as the unit continues to grow together.

“Ultimately, this was a complete team effort,” Jeff Sellars said. “Everyone played their role, and that collective commitment is what earned us a quality result.”

The South Fork defense also had a good day and settled into the game after allowing the three early goals, including two within a 60-second spell 16 minutes in.

Molly Perkins and Flora Cruise were particularly effective and helped to anchor the defense.

“We had some strong defensive play, especially by Molly Perkins and Flora Cruise, and some plays where we strung together some good passes,” Anderson added. “We just never really got going on offense and didn’t create many shooting opportunities.”

The impressive Galaz finished with 12 saves.