San Marcos boys soccer found its offensive rhythm in a 3-1 victory over Rio Mesa on Thursday night at Warkentin Stadium.
“Rio Mesa has a very organized and talented backline and we worked hard to create chances against them,” San Marcos head coach Paul McLean said. “ Our backline was solid all night with Abraham Jimenez, Wes Monroy and goalkeeper Omar Solis.”
The Royals opened the scoring when Yael Solano played a cross into Ricky Olivo, who finished it off for a goal and the 1-0 lead.
Later in the game, San Marcos’ Alex Martinez fired a 30-yard shot into the bottom left corner of the net to double the advantage to 2-0.
Rio Mesa cut the deficit to one in the second half, but the Royals put the cherry on top of the win when Solano connected with Olivo once again for the 3-1 victory.
“Yael was creative on the ball and created multiple opportunities for us,” McLean said. “Axel Martinez was excellent all night from the midfield and the back line and scored a fantastic strike from distance. He put in strong tackles, won the ball back and connected his passes consistently.”
San Marcos, now 7-3-1 against league opponents, will host Ventura on Tuesday.
Dos Pueblos 3, Buena 3
The Chargers and Bulldogs competed in a shootout that ended in a draw on Thursday in Ventura.
The momentum swung back and forth in the first half, with Dos Pueblos striking first as Owen Ribbens scored in the third minute of play.
However, Buena then scored back-to-back goals in the fourth and 10th minutes to take its first lead of the night at 2-1.
Just six minutes later, Ribbens recorded a brace with his second goal of the game to tie things up at 2-2. Kaj Laub put the Chargers back out in front in the 31st minute to give his team a 3-2 halftime advantage.
Buena was back on the offensive in the second half and found the equalizer once again in the 61st minute. That proved to be the final goal of the night as neither side found the back of the net again.
“In a game where our offense showed up in the first half, we couldn’t keep Buena off of set pieces,” Dos Pueblos coach Oscar Garcia said. “Despite Buena’s record, they fought until the very end, almost winning the game at the end.
“Owen Ribbens was amazing for us on the offensive end tonight. Brandon Stock made a goal-line clearance at the end to preserve the tie. Credit to our guys that pushed until the end to get a victory, but we ended up not having enough.”
The Chargers are now 6-8-6 overall and 2-6-3 in league action.
Pacifica 3, Santa Barbara High 0
The shorthanded Dons struggled down the stretch in a loss to the Tritons on Thursday at Peabody Stadium.
“We were without two starters, so it was next man up,” Santa Barbara High head coach Ricardo Alcaraz said. “Damian (Leon) stepped in and played amazingly. He won his aerial and 1v1 battles, and his communication with the back line was on point.”
The Dons had a pair of opportunities to take a lead before halftime, but both shots were off-line and the match remained a scoreless tie at the midway point.
Pacifica finally broke through in the 60th minute of play with a goal for a 1-0 lead. A few minutes later, Santa Barbara nearly netted the equalizer when Valentin Morales served a through ball to Juan Culebro, but the Triton goalkeeper made the save.
“Our goal was to keep the game close and play hard-nosed defense. Even down 1–0, we wanted to keep it close,” Alcaraz said. “Valentin came in and gave us great minutes defensively and created an amazing scoring opportunity for Juan.”
The Tritons doubled their lead on a free kick from outside the box and tacked on a final goal three minutes later to finish off the win.
Santa Barbara High will host Buena in another league match on Tuesday.