Arcata

Tigers look to make more history after big NCS win at Fortuna

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The Arcata Tigers have reached a North Coast Section championship game in boys soccer for the first time in school history after a semifinal win over a league rival on Wednesday night.

The Arcata boys traveled to Fortuna and came away with a 2-0 victory.

On Saturday afternoon, they will try to make school history by winning a first-ever section crown in the sport, boys or girls, when they travel to Oakland to play top seed Head-Royce.

Windston Stratton and Kai McDonald both scored in the win, with Elias Gomez assisting on the second goal.

This is the first time an H-DNL boys team has reached an NCS decider since Fortuna lost to Making Waves in 2021.

The last time an H-DNL boys team won a section crown was in 2019, when the Huskies won for a third time in four years.

The Tigers will be looking to become just the second league school to win a section title in the sport.

The loss for the Huskies, which was just their second all year, ends their season.

“It wasn’t our night,” Fortuna head coach Daniel Holmes said, “Super proud of every one of my boys. They represented our program and their community well.

“I wish Arcata all the luck in the final. They played well.”

Head-Royce defeated No. 4 seed Bentley in the other semifinal on Wednesday.

Arcata, which is seeded No. 6, also defeated Cristo Rey De La Salle 2-1 in its playoff opener, before winning 1-0 at No. 3 College Prep in a weekend quarterfinal.

Traveling for the championship game shouldn’t be a concern for the Tigers, who have now defeated the Nos. 3 and 2 seeds on the road to reach the championship game.

After Wednesday’s win, Arcata head coach John Davidson praised the Tigers fans for their support.

“I want to thank the Arcata fans  for coming out in numbers to support the team,” he said.

Categories: Arcata, Fortuna, Soccer

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