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The Arcata boys soccer team stretched its unbeaten run in the H-DNL with a 15-0 win over St. Bernards on Saturday afternoon, as Del Norte and Fortuna tied 3-3 in Crescent City to keep their championship hopes alive.

Also on Saturday, McKinleyville got the better of Eureka 3-0 in a game that was called early after the Loggers were handed three red cards.

In girls action on Saturday, the high-flying Wildcat stretched their unbeaten run to 13 straight games with a 3-0 win over McKinleyville in a non-conference game at Ferndale High. 

They have won 12 of those 13 games and have shut out their opponents in nine of them.

The Wildcats have also now beaten three of the four Big 4 schools they have played this year, including wins over Eureka, Arcata and McKinleyville the past three weekends.

The Arcata boys, meanwhile, improved to 7-0-1 in league play (15 points) and moved one point further ahead of both the Huskies and Warriors.

Fortuna remains second in the standings with four games remaining for each of the three contending teams.

Up in Crescent City, meanwhile, there was little to separate the Warriors and Huskies once again.

But the Warriors had to fight hard for the tie, battling back from a two-goal deficit in the second half.

“My boys showed a never-say-die spirit to score two late goals,” Del Norte head coach David Sanyaolu said. 

The always dangerous Giovanni Lopez Minor scored both of the late goals to bring his season tally to an impressive 19.

The home team took a first-half lead on a penalty kick by Alexis Ortiz, but the Huskies would pull even before halftime and would take a two-goal lead after the break against the run of play.

Kaden Lodes netted twice for Fortuna, with Izzy Hernandez also scoring.

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“I thought Fortuna were excellent in the first half, but the second half was all Del Norte,” Sanyaolu said. “And to come from behind late on to secure a tie in the game is very gratifying .

“I know we wanted to win the game, but we will take the tie and move on to the next game. I am so proud of the boys for the spirit they showed today.”

The tie keeps both teams well in the chase for this year’s league title.

“Its always tough to play up there,” Fortuna head coach Daniel Holmes said. “The boys adjusted after some injuries last week and they filled some different roles.

“This was the fourth time playing them this year and that is never easy.”

The McKinleyville Panthers, meanwhile, overwhelmed the Loggers.

Brayden Adkins opened the scoring in the first half off a Lucas Jones corner kick and the McKinleyville boys led by the narrowest of margins at the break.

But they would put the game away with two more goals after the break, one from Jones and one by Gaelen Creighton, before the game was called with around 10 minutes remaining.

As the game got a little chippy late, the McKinleyville players remained focused on the performance.

“I felt like we did a pretty good job keeping our composure,” McKinleyville head coach Brady Burtchett said. “I thought it was a good team effort overall and a good team win. It was nice to see us playing as a whole team.”

Jones and Creighton continued to impress for the Panthers and controlled the middle of the field for much of the game, while the Mack defense held the Loggers in check throughout.

The McKinleyville girls, meanwhile, matched up well against the red-hot Wildcats and trailed by just one goal at the break.

“It was a good game,” McKinleyville head coach Adam Canepa said. “We played well. It was wet and slippery so there was a lot of sloppy play because of that.”

The in-form Teresa Catana opened the scoring for the hosts in the first half and they carried a one-goal lead into the break.

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Madison Hagemann netted twice in the second half, including one on a nice assist from Catana.

Madison Gossi started the move with a beautiful cross to Catana, who slipped the ball through the defense to Hagemann, who found the back of the net.

“I don’t personally think it was our best performance,” Ferndale head coach Bailey Davy said. “The game didn’t have much of a flow to it, but there were moments.”

The second-half goals both came about after some nice combination moves between the midfielders and forwards.

“It’s our Homecoming week, so I know the girls are beat, and I think that showed,” Davy said. “However, they took care of business today and you can’t ask for more than that.”

For the Panthers, sophomore Claire Creps had her best performance of the season helping to anchor the team defense, according to Canepa, while freshman Paisley Altamirano also had a big game in midfield.

“She’s just been improving so much this year,” Canepa said of Altamirano. “And I think she had her best game of the year.”

Senior Grace Pimentel also impressed for Mack, as she usually does, and came closest to scoring for her team with a long range shot that Ferndale goalkeeper Tinnley Pidgeon stopped with an impressive grab.

“They’re a good aggressive team that doesn’t have a lot of weaknesses,” Canepa said of Ferndale. “Hopefully we can build on this. I think this will be a learning experience.”