The St. Bernard’s girls faced their first deficit of the season on Wednesday night and they answered the call.

Trailing early in an Upper Lake tournament soccer game against McKinleyville, a young Crusaders team responded with three unanswered goals on the way to pulling out a 3-1 win and keeping their unbeaten start to the new campaign in tact.

The win sets up a mouthwatering tournament showdown against unbeaten conference rival Ferndale (3-0) in Upper Lake on Friday night.

“We started out a little slower than usual,” SB head coach Brandon Amis said. “It was the first time we allowed a goal, the first time we were down. But after the goal we settled in.”

The always-dangerous Abi Pimentel gave the Panthers the early lead on a well-taken free kick that found the top corner of the net from well outside the box.

Check out Pimentel’s free kick above.

However, St. Bernard’s senior team captain CJ Figas was instrumental in the comeback and was involved in all three of her team’s goals.

Figas scored the Crusaders’ opening goal off an assist from teammate Malia Masayos, before repaying the favor and setting up Masayos for the team’s second goal, and the Crusaders carried a 2-1 advantage into halftime.

Freshman Kinley Johnson closed out the scoring and gave the Crusaders a two-goal cushion in the second half, with Figas again providing the assist.

The SB defense grew into the game with strong performances by freshman fullback Emilyn Wilson and junior center back Carli Baum, each of whom are enjoying good starts to the new season.

Baum, according to Amis, plays a lot like a midfielder and provided a steady presence while creating a lot of opportunities for her teammates farther up the field.

Senior midfielder Sariah Vainuku made her season debut for the Crusaders and also made her presence felt.

Friday night’s big showdown kicks off at 6 p.m.

Submitted photo