A back-and-forth second half ended with a 2-2 draw between Santa Barbara High and Oxnard in the Channel League boys soccer opener on Thursday at Peabody Stadium.
After a scoreless first half, both offenses woke up in the second to come out with the 2-2 final.
Despite it ending in a draw, it was an impressive performance from the Dons, who finished last season with a league record of 3-8-3. The Yellow Jackets, meanwhile, went 9-2-3 and were the second-best team in the league.
“Oxnard is one of the best teams in Channel League and the guys knew it and were up for it,” Santa Barbara coach Ricardo Alcaraz said. “I feel like the boys know after this performance that they can play with the best.
“It was really important to send a statement.”
The first half was evenly matched, with both sides finding opportunities to take the early lead but neither could finish off attacks.
The backlines of both squads played well for the first 40 minutes, consistently sending away breakaway chances and corner-kick opportunities.
However, both teams turned it up a notch in the second half.
Twelve minutes into the second half, Oxnard’s Pabel Ayala, who was aggressive on the attack all night, bumped into a Santa Barbara High defender in the box and was awarded a penalty kick.
Yellow Jacket forward Mariodavid Vega stepped up to the ball and drilled the shot, breaking the scoreless tie and grabbing the lead.
The Dons offense woke up from there, thanks in part to a spark off the bench from Eric Guzman, who took a dribble inside and found Luis Barron in the box. Barron was almost immediately fouled, earning a penalty kick for Santa Barbara High.
“Eric came off the bench and played well, he definitely made an impact on the game,” Alcaraz said.
Jesus Miranda Mendoza took the penalty kick, and his first attempt was blocked by the Oxnard goalkeeper. However, Mendoza calmly stepped up and knocked the ricochet in with his head for the equalizer.
“Any moment, any shot, any header, he’s dangerous around the box,” Alcaraz said of Mendoza.
Just 10 minutes later, it was Mendoza finding the back of the net once again for the Dons.
This time, Santa Barbara High was set up for a corner-kick attempt. After the original cross was deflected away by the Yellow Jacket defense, Mendoza found himself with the ball in empty space and he fired a shot that got past the goalkeeper.
His second goal of the night gave the Dons a 2-1 advantage with 16 minutes to go.
“Jesus is great, his work ethic is 100% and he’s always going to give me everything,” Alcaraz said. “He can score at any moment of the game and that’s what he did today.
“He’s going to get more goals this year, I’m excited to see what he’s going to do.”
The visitors answered right back, however, as Vega notched the brace by finishing off a cross into the box, knotting the game back up at 2-2.
From there, Oxnard was the aggressor on the offensive attack, finding multiple scoring opportunities in the final 12 minutes.
However, they were continuously sent away by the Santa Barbara backline and goalkeeper Sammy Ceballos to preserve the draw.
“Sammy, our goalkeeper, after getting the starting spot yesterday came up big for us,” Alcaraz said. “He’s just going to keep getting better and better as a sophomore.”
The Dons (0-1-2, 0-0-1) will look to build off this contest and find their first win of the season on the road against Pacifica next Tuesday.
“[Pacifica’s] going to be another test for us and I feel like we can go up to Oxnard and get another positive result,” Alcaraz said.
