File photo – The Fortuna and McKinleyville boys teams were in action on Wednesday
The Huskies are back on top of the H-DNL standings in boys soccer after another late winner on Wednesday night.
The Fortuna boys hosted Eureka and won an exciting and entertaining game 5-4.
But the game was all square heading into the final two minutes and it appeared as if a share of the spoils was inevitable.
However, Danny Cortes had different ideas and would net the winner for the hosts off a free kick to secure the points and keep the Huskies’ perfect season going.
“It was a battle,” Fortuna head coach Daniel Holmes said. “It was back and forth.”
With the win, the Huskies improved to 14-0 overall and 5-0 in league play and leapfrogged Arcata into top spot in the standings almost halfway through the H-DNL schedule.
The Tigers had a bye on Wednesday.
Eureka, meanwhile, dropped to 1-4 despite playing what was arguably their most impressive game of the season.
“We played a heck of a game,” Loggers head coach Tommy Learmouth said. “It was a team effort and shows we can play with anyone. Best game we’ve had all year.
“Credit to Fortuna for finding a way to win at the end of the game, and I’m proud of the fight my boys showed in the face of adversity.”
Kaden Lodes, who netted a dramatic winner in a 3-2 win over Del Norte earlier in league play, also scored for Fortuna, along with Anthony Gonzalez, Manny Diaz and Oliver Cortes.
“Our boys played with a lot of heart tonight and pulled it out,” Holmes added.
Landon Larson netted twice for the Loggers, with Cooper Munson and D’Alessandro Medina also scoring.
Medina added an assist as did Lucas Ask and Isaiah Herbst.
“Eureka played a great game,” Holmes said. “Their two strikers are super talented and their young goalkeeper (Mason Beauchamp) kept them in the game.”
Also in action this week, Del Norte won 5-1 at St. Bernard’s on Tuesday and McKinleyville defeated South Fork 7-2 on Wednesday.
Del Norte (3-1-1) remains third in the league standings with seven points, with McKinleyville (3-3) right on the Warriors’ heels with six points as the Panthers became the first team to close out the first half of their league schedule.
The Huskies will now turn their attention to a pivotal clash at second-placed Arcata on Saturday afternoon with kick off set for 3 p.m.
“It doesn’t get any easier. Arcata’s super talented,” Holmes said.
The Eureka boys will close out the first half of their league schedule against St. Bernard’s this weekend.
And Learmouth hopes Wednesday’s loss will be another learning experience for his players.
“The team is learning to come together and fight through the challenges we’ve been facing, and while the outcome we wanted didn’t happen tonight, we have a bright future and exciting second half of the season if we can keep playing like this,” the Eureka coach said.
Categories: Arcata, Del Norte, Eureka, Fortuna, McKinleyville, Soccer, South Fork, St. Bernard's
If this was a professional game the refs would be under investigation for taking bribes. The refs won this game for Fortuna. Ever notice how Fortuna gets a PK every single game? I mean EVERY SINGLE GAME! I’ve been watching this league play for over 5 years now and I’m completely convinced the refs are biased for Fortuna if not paid off. You disagree? Just go watch one of their games in Fortuna
Maybe don’t foul them🤷♂️
Maybe call a fair game 👍. Funny how we got tackled first 30 seconds of game in the box and no PK…yet they barely get touched in ours and immediate PK. funny how their goalie did the same thing ours did and we got nothing called and they got a last second free kick to win the game. Funny how we watched the middle ref go hug the Fortuna players immediately after the game….funny how we watched their players hit ours in the balls over and over on purpose but they drop like a bag a flour of you look at them. Funny how the refs pay attention to them falling but not ours being hit, grabbed, pushed, held
Been watching this league over 4 years and have never seen that middle ref before. Great game until Fortuna got scared and the ref had to take over. Tie game, last-second call handed Fortuna the win, and then he’s hugging and taking pics with them? Who even is this guy and where did he come from?! No one wins a game playing against the refs. Would LOVE to see Fortuna play with non-biased refs and without flopping randomly to get the PK — guaranteed the league scores over the years would be totally different. Time for the league to investigate.