The Carpinteria boys soccer team defeated Dos Pueblos on an own goal in the final two minutes of the game for 1-0 victory on Friday night at Scott O’Leary Stadium.
Carpinteria played most of the second half with 10 players after receiving a red card.
“They played very inspired after that and at times it looked like we had the man down,” said DP coach Matt York. “They were able to strike on a full-field counter-attack play late in the game.
“I was really impressed with the way they battled all evening.
The game was originally scheduled at Carpinteria, but with the rain it was moved to the turf field at Dos Pueblos.
York said sophomore Tiago Rodriguez was the man of the match for the Chargers, who were playing their season opener.
“His silky-smooth dribbling and shooting got us multiple opportunities. In the second half, he beat the defender on a beautiful through-ball by senior Fin Silver and was taken down from behind, which earned us a set-piece opportunity. It was a really strong coming out party for him.”
York praised the play of Silver at forward and Gio Jimenez at center back.
“We’re looking forward to having a lot of great opportunities with them this season, and tonight just gave us confidence moving forward.”