By Ray Hamill — Wednesday was a good day for Eureka High soccer.
In fact, when it comes to the North Coast Section playoffs, I’m not sure the Loggers have ever enjoyed a better day.
The Eureka girls team won a sixth all-time section championship with a 1-0 win over top-seeded Kelseyville in the Division-1 championship game in Lake County, while the Eureka boys team moved within one win of a first-ever section championship.
The Eureka boys played their Division-2 semifinal against league rival Del Norte at Albee Stadium and won 2-1 in double overtime.
That win sets up a championship showdown against Redwood Christian on Saturday night, a game which the Loggers will host.
Also on Wednesday, the Ferndale girls won a third NCS championship in four years with a 2-0 win over Del Norte in Crescent City in the Division-2 championship game.
It was the second straight championship matchup between the two schools, who also met in last year’s D-1 final in Ferndale, which the Cats also won.
The Arcata boys were also in action on Wednesday, traveling to San Francisco to play top-seeded The Bay School in a Division-1 semifinal.
And the Tigers won a penalty shootout to advance to a second straight championship game after tying 0-0 in regulation and overtime.
They will play at No. 2 Sonoma Academy in the weekend championship game.
But the most exciting game of the night was at Albee Stadium, as the No. 6 seeded Loggers edged No. 7 Del Norte in the second overtime period.
Cooper Munson netted the game-winning goal with five minutes remaining after Del Norte had tied the game in the dying minutes of regulation to force overtime.
And with No. 9 Redwood Christian beating No. 4 Summit K2 in the other semifinal, it means Eureka will host Saturday’s decider as the higher remaining seed.
The Eureka girls added to their all-time tally of section titles with a one-goal win over No. 1 Kelseyville.
The loss was the first for the Knights since opening day and ended a 22-game unbeaten streak.
The section championship also ties the St. Bernard’s girls for most ever by an H-DNL team, boys or girls.
It follows the NCS title the Eureka girls won in 2018 and the four in a row they won from 2021 to 2024.
We’ll have lots more on Wednesday night’s games on Thursday.
