The Eureka soccer teams played a pair of 4-1 games on Saturday, winning one and losing the other.
Both teams welcomed McKinleyville to the new Albee Stadium, and it was a good day for the Eureka girls, who won their matchup to stretch their winning streak to four straight games and improve to 9-1 on the season.
“The girls had a much better game than last weekend,” Eureka head coach Melaina Valdez said, referring to a 2-1 win over Ferndale seven days earlier. “Played possessive. Still working through some kinks.”
Elliot Banducci netted twice in the opening half to give the home team a two-goal cushion at the break.
Kyla Benzinger added a third Eureka goal off a corner kick from Lola Distefano, before Mariah Wyllie close out the scoring for the team.
Maya Mitchell also assisted on the opening goal and battled throughout, turning in a strong performance for the Loggers, who are ranked No. 2 in the North Coast Section heading into the business end of the season, trailing only No. 1 Kelseyville.
The Eureka boys, however, did not fare as well.
D’Alessandro Medina scored the only goal of the game for the Loggers, who saw the game get away from them when the Panthers scored two unanswered goals in the second half.
“I thought we played really well today and the result is really a tough one,” Eureka head coach Tommy Learmouth said. “We dominated long portions of the game, but today we just couldn’t finish our chances.”
The visiting Panthers took the lead on an early own goal, but the home team would respond when the in-form Medina, who is enjoying a good fall with the team, equalized on a great solo effort.
The Loggers continued to battle in the second half and enjoyed some good possession early in the period, but an opportunistic McKinleyville scored twice on counter attacks to put the game away.
Mason Beauchamp enjoyed another good day between the posts for Eureka, and he wasn’t alone.
“Our back line was fantastic today, and our goalkeeper kept us in the game,” Learmouth added after the game. “Today we were unlucky.”
Both Eureka teams will be back in action against St. Bernard’s on Wednesday.
No stats from Saturday’s games were immediately available for the Panthers.
