The Del Norte Warriors will play for a little piece of history on Wednesday after advancing to a North Coast Section championship game in girls soccer for the first time in program history.
On Saturday, the Warriors got the better of Lower Lake in their Division-2 semifinal in Crescent City, 1-0.
And the No. 1 seeds will host the championship game next Wednesday against league rival Ferndale, after the No. 2 Cats beat No. 3 Credo 3-0 in the other semifinal on Friday.
In other NCS games on Saturday, in Division-2 boys action, Eureka and Del Norte both knocked off higher seeds in their quarterfinals.
The No. 6 Loggers traveled to Rohnert Park to play No. 3 Credo and won 2-0, while the No. 7 Warriors traveled to Oakland to play No. 3 Cristo Rey De La Salle and won 3-1.
Those two league rivals will now meet in the Division-2 semifinal at Albee Stadium on Wednesday night, with one of them guaranteed to play in next weekend’s championship game.
But the big story of the day was the Del Norte girls, who continue to play stingy defense as they stretched their unbeaten run to 13 straight games, seven of which have been shutouts.
“Again we were sticking together and talking,” Del Norte head coach Shawn Eckart said. “Lower Lake’s a good team and our midfield was working really well together.”
The impressive Jaden Bennett who is enjoying a big season for the Warriors, scored the only goal of the game.
She got the decisive goal just a few minutes after she missed on a penalty kick, showcasing her resilience.
The Del Norte defense also continued to impress with a second straight shutout, and goalkeeper Avery Ritter enjoyed a quiet first half with the visitors rarely breaking through the back line.
“They’ve been playing together for a few months now,” Eckart said of his players. “They’re starting to get into a rhythm.”
Lillie Franklin also impressed in the win and caused the Lower Lake defense problems, as did Liberty Chilcott on the right wing and Chloe Wood in midfield.
Now the Warriors will get set for one more game and the opportunity to become the first Del Norte soccer team to win a section crown.
And the players are excited for the opportunity.
“They want it, they can see it, and I can see it in them,” Eckart said. “They know they can make it work and win the tournament. They’re working hard.”
The Warriors and Wildcats have already played twice this season, both times in league play, and both games ended all square.
“We’re very evenly matched,” Eckart said. “They bring it at times and we bring it at times. It’s going to be a very good battle.”
Wednesday’s final kicks off at 2:30 p.m.
The Eureka boys, meanwhile, continued their impressive playoff run with a second victory in four days.
After opening the postseason with a 3-0 win over Trinity Prep at home on Wednesday night, they carried the momentum in Saturday’s quarterfinal in Rohnert Park.
Sophomore D’Alessandro Medina was involved in both goals, scoring one and assisting on the other, which was scored by junior Lucas Ask.
But it was the team defense that really paved the way to victory with another big performance.
“Our defense played inspired tonight and refused to give an inch,” Eureka head coach Tommy Learmouth said of the unit that includes Kyan Green, Luiz Gonzalez, Mansoor Khan and Greyden Larson. “(They) held it down all night.”
It was the second straight shutout for the unit and goalkeeper Mason Beauchamp, who have yet to allow a goal in the playoffs.
It was tight throughout with just one goal separating the two sides at halftime.
Learmouth described it as a game “that challenged us to keep our composure.”
And the Loggers certainly did that.
“The boys responded well and carried momentum into the second half, where we were able to close out the game,” the coach added.
With the win, the Loggers improved to 13-8-1 on the season.
Wednesday’s semifinal against Del Norte will take place at Albee Stadium.
No details from Saturday’s win were immediately available for the Warriors.
As always, coaches are encouraged to forward details to Humboldt Sports if they would like their players included in our roundups.
Eureka and Del Norte have faced each other twice this year, both in league play, with the Loggers winning 1-0 at home and the two schools tying in Crescent City.
Neither program has ever won an NCS championship.
