Same teams. Same field. Same result.
The Santa Barbara Dons and San Marcos Royals renewed their boys soccer rivalry on Thursday night at Valley Stadium and the result was eerily similar to their first Channel League meeting 12 days ago. Both games saw each team score in the second half and both ended in 1-1 ties.
Santa Barbara ended up getting a forfeit victory in the Jan. 11 meeting when it was discovered the Royals had used an ineligible player.
On Thursday in the first game of the second round of league, the Dons (15-1-4, 4-0-2) took a 1-0 lead in the first minute of the second half when Miguel Alvarado poked the ball toward Jorge Ochoa and he slid and stretched his left leg around the keeper, Sam Friedman, to score into the lower left corner.
“We knew SM was a tough opponent, they always are,” said Ochoa. “I went to the front of the goal and I was just in the right place. You always have to be ready for anything that can happen.
“The emotions and intensity went up when we took the 1-0 lead. Having our great fans supporting us really helped.”
Santa Barbara is ranked No. 6 in the CIF-SS Div. 1 and No. 13 in the nation by Top Drawer Soccer.
San Marcos (9-5-6, 1-2-3) evened the score at 1-1 in the 56th minute. Backup goalie Uli Velez and Levi Sheffey set up senior forward Isaac Estrada beat the keeper to the back post, then sprinted to the San Marcos stands to celebrate with his teammates.
“I saw the ball and took my shot,” said Estrada. “We played good. The forwards were amazing, the midfield did fantastic and our defense was incredible. We were hoping for a win but we didn’t get the result we wanted.”
San Marcos coach Paul McLean said his team was disappointed that it didn’t get the win. The Royals suffered a blow when AJ Ramii injured his shoulder with 10 minutes to go before halftime and never returned.
“Both teams had good chances and defended well,” said McLean. “We needed those points more than they did.
“The fun part of our goal was that it was started by our backup keeper. Uli brought the ball to the right and Levi had kind of a donkey touch that worked out well. Isaac took a great finish to the back post. It was clean and sweet.”
McLean was happy to see his team bounce back after falling behind 1-0.
“That’s a great characteristic of our team,” said McLean. “We don’t quit and that’s a cultural thing we’ve been trying to shift at San Marcos for a while. We expect to beat good teams like Santa Barbara and Dos Pueblos.”
The Dons outshot the Royals 13-9 and both teams have five shots on goal. Connor Lambe made four saves for the Dons and Friedman had the same amount for San Marcos.
“We started this game way better than our last game with them,” said Dons coach Todd Heil. “We took it to them in the first half and we were creating chances. This is a tough week for us. We were at DP on Tuesday (a 3-0 Dons win) and then we’re here on Thursday. That’s a quick turnaround to face both our rivals on the road in less than 48 hours.
“I’m really proud of our guys. I know we want to win every game but sometimes you have to be realistic about your body and where we’re at right now. We’re a little beat up and hurt. The hard part is protecting that 1-0 lead. San Marcos understands it can come back because they’d done it to us before.
“I’m proud of our week, we’ll take the four points and move on.”
Santa Barbara had a deep kickoff and then got a throw-in to set up its only score in the 41st minute.
“We’ve been trying to keep balls alive inside the 18 and Jorge just jumped on the loose ball,” said Heil. “That was pure effort by Jorge.
“Our goal this week was to make sure we were still in first at the end of this week. Now, it’s just about getting healthy and ready for a good Santa Ynez team next week.”
Santa Ynez beat Dos Pueblos 2-1 on Thursday to stay within a point of the Dons. Santa Barbara (4-0-2) has 14 points and Santa Ynez (4-1-1) has 13. SBHS edged the Pirates 1-0 in their first meeting.
The Dons will host Santa Ynez on Tuesday at 7 p.m. at San Marcos in a first-place showdown.