Dos Pueblos stormed out of the gate against Cate on Senior Night at O’Leary Stadium Tuesday, the Rams came back, but the Chargers prevailed with an 11-9 win.
The victory over the previously unbeaten and highly ranked Rams was a “statement win,” Charger coach Lucas Martinez said, and creates a race for the Channel League title.
Cate is now 5-1 in league and Dos Pueblos is a game behind at 4-2. Both teams have two league matches remaining.
Dos Pueblos charged out to a 6-0 lead by the middle of the second quarter, dominating possession and benefitting from “crisp ball movement and well-placed shots,” Martinez said.
The Rams responded in the rest of the quarter with four straight goals from Wade Nieman, followed by scores from Harry McAdam and Cody Mast. With another Charger score mixed in, Dos Pueblos went into halftime leading 7-6.
Cate tied the game at 7 early in defensive third quarter, but Dos Pueblos took a 9-7 lead to the fourth, holding that margin to the end score of 11-9.
The Chargers responded in the third, on the back of a dominating performance by Cal Denier, who went 18-of-21 at the faceoff X for the game,” Martinez said.
Dan Finneran scored four goals for DP, Roman Christou added three and Finneran and Gus Miller a pair each. That, “paired with huge timely saves by Salem Bawaneh took the Chargers over the finish line in a statement win.”
“To nobody’s surprise, we got DP’s best effort tonight,” Cate coach Wade Ransom said. “They did a great job retaining possession, holding a 4-1 advantage in that metric tonight.”
Nieman led the Rams with five goals, and an assist. McAdam had two goals and three assists, Mast and Livingston a goal apiece and Quincy Thorne an assist.
Cate goalie Burak Yanar came up with clutch saves to keep the Rams in the game, totaling eight. Caden Fuchs, Baye Breene and Mast came up with huge ground balls that lead to good offensive sets, Ransom said.
“I was proud of our guys fighting their way back into the game after a slow start, and give a massive amount of credit to Wade and Harry for carrying us in that second quarter. Our defensive unit struggled due to the amount of time DP held the ball, and we will have to work on our transition game in practice over the next few days.
“The good news is, despite the setback we are still in control of our own destiny. The final two league games (against San Marcos and Thacher) are massive. We knew no team was going undefeated in the Channel League this year as the competition is just too tough.”
Santa Barbara 6, Thacher 5
Santa Barbara senior Quinn Lewis scored three goals to lead the Dons to a 6-5 win over Thacher Tuesday. Sophomore Jasper Larrson added two goals, and senior Michael Mascari had two assists.
And it was sophomore Jesse Van Dyk who scored the winning goal at the 5:30 mark of the fourth quarter.
The Dons are 5-9 on the season and host Dos Pueblos on Monday.