St. Bernard’s opened league play with a big win on Wednesday, as the Crusaders continue their impressive run on the soccer fields.
The SB girls hosted Del Norte and broke open a tight game with four goals in the second half on the way to a 5-0 win.
Also in league play on Wednesday, Ferndale traveled to South Fork and came away with a 4-1 win, improving to 1-0-1 in the Redwood League.
Freshman Kinley Johnson and senior CJ Figas each netted twice for St. Bernard’s, which improved to 6-0-1 on the season.
However, it was a close game for the first half.
“I thought we came out and kind of had a slow start,” St. Bernard’s head coach Brandon Amis said. “And I thought Del Norte, despite being down 1-0, had done a good job of winning the first half.”
The Crusaders, however would build momentum as the game went on and they quickly doubled their advantage just two minutes into the second half.
Malia Massayos was involved in three of St. Bernard’s goals, assisting Johnson on the only goal of the opening half.
She also scored her team’s fourth goal of the game on an assist by the ever-dangerous Figas.
Freshmen Katie Bailey and Paloma Granados each also had an assist in the win.
And that wasn’t all for Granados, who was part of strong SB defense that posted its fourth shutout in seven games.
Goalkeeper Kaitlyn Amis kept another clean sheet between the posts, while Granados teamed with Carli Baum, Paula Bullock and Emilyn Wilson on the back line and did a good job in transition.
“My whole defensive five are just an absolute unit,” Brandon Amis said.
Granados had the play of the game, according to her coach, setting up Figas on her goal, while the latter teamed well with Johnson and Massayos up front.
Del Norte dropped to 0-1-1 in league play and 2-3-2 on the season.
At South Fork, meanwhile, the defending league champion Wildcats got their first league win.
Junior Macie Hagemann had a big game for the visitors, scoring twice in the win and assisting on the other two goals.
Teresa Catana-Moreno and Gianna Regli each also scored for the Cats, who improved to 5-2-1 on the season.
The Wildcats, according to head coach Sam Licona, “took full control of the game by being calm ion the ball and knowing when to speed it up.”
Hannah Savio scored the only goal of the game for the Cubs, with Elizabeth Chivington assisting on the score.
Among the standouts for South Fork, goalkeeper Leyla Curia “played exceptionally well,” according to head coach Beth Anderson, and finished the game with 22 saves, while center midfielder Lilly Elizalde had a good game on both sides of the ball, making her presence felt defensively and offensively.
“Overall, the team kept defensive pressure on and passed well,” Anderson said. “The team keeps improving in every game.”
It’s been a busy couple of days for the Ferndale girls, who also played a non-league game on Tuesday, falling 1-0 to Kelseyville, the No. 3 team in the North Coast Section this fall.
The two teams remained tied for much of the game, with the Knights netting the winning goal just just a few minutes from time.
“In the first half we were not all the way there, we were not connecting passes, we were not controlling the tempo of the game,” Licona said. “In the second half we came out a lot stronger. We came out playing the way we play.”
Regli impressed for the Cats at the back, alongside impressive freshman Willow Watt, who “had herself a good game defensively and helped us keep possession,” according to Licona.
Kelseyville improved to 6-0-1 with the win.
