Bishop Diego boys soccer ran away with a 5-1 league victory over Coast Union on Thursday in Santa Barbara.
The Cardinals set the tone with a pair of first-half goals courtesy of River Castellanos and Ricardo Diaz-Rea. Meanwhile, goalkeeper Bruno Rakowski came up with a penalty-kick save to keep the lead at 2-0 at halftime.
Bishop Diego’s offense continued to roll in the second half, with both Castellanos and Diaz-Rea scoring their second goals of the day and Eddie Peña capping off the scoring with a goal of his own.
The Cardinals are now 4-1 on the season and will be on the road against Del Sol next Tuesday.
“The program continues to show steady improvement and resilience as the team grows more confident and connected with each match,” Bishop Diego head coach Emmanuel Verduzco said.
“Credit goes to the players for their effort and response as the Cardinals look ahead to their upcoming games with renewed momentum.”
Cate 7, Dunn 0
The Rams dominated both ends of the field en route to a big win over the Earwigs on Thursday.
Cate found plenty of offensive success early, as George Marin, Kiy Barry and Kamil Abdul-Nafeo all scored in a seven-minute span to take a 3-0 lead in the 16th minute of play.
That lead grew to 4-0 just before halftime when Barry finished off an assist from Marin in the 35th minute.
The Rams stayed hot in the second half as Charlie Dorion scored just two minutes into the half to make it a 5-0 advantage.
Marin scored his second goal of the match in the 65th minute, and Nolan Montoya scored a header to round out the scoring for the 7-0 win.
“Overall, we delivered a much-improved performance, controlling all aspects of the match,” Cate head coach Jorge Reynoso said. “Our passing, possession, and defensive effort were nearly flawless. We got some great contributions off the bench today.
“Dunn features a dangerous attacking threat, and Cate’s ‘onion defense’ – defending in layers with depth – proved highly effective.”
The Rams will host Foothill Tech on Tuesday at 3 p.m. at Meldman Field.
Girls Soccer
Bishop Diego and Laguna Blanca girls soccer battled to a 2-2 rivalry draw on Thursday in Hope Ranch.
“We battled today, which is great to see out of our players,” Cardinals head coach Dillan Bennett said. “We’re getting good game experience, which will give us more grit as we finish out the last two weeks of the season.
“If we can continue to improve our ball control and clean up a few plays here and there, we have a great shot at getting back to the postseason, which is a major goal for our team and our program.”
The two defenses took center stage in the first half, as the game remained knotted at 0-0 heading into halftime.
Both teams came out of the break determined, as all four of the game’s goals came in the first 15 minutes of the second half.
Bishop Diego’s scores came courtesy of Bryleigh Laurent and Mia Desales, while Laguna Blanca’s Elle Harris and Camilla Cuevas each found the back of the net.
The two defenses then made their adjustments and found success down the stretch, keeping the game tied at 2-2 until the final whistle.
“After a big league win on Tuesday, our girls were fired up for the rematch against Laguna,” Bennett said. “We had a feeling they would play much better this time, considering we were their opening game of the season when we last played.
“Amaya Martinez controlled the midfield well, and Kaitlyn Garcia continued to anchor our defense.”
Bishop Diego (2-6-1, 2-1-1 Frontier League) will host Orcutt Academy for a non-league match on Saturday at 12 p.m. Meanwhile, the Owls are set to host Coast Union on Tuesday.
“It was a hard-fought game by both teams and we are both proud of Laguna for being able to keep battling the whole time with only 11 players,” Laguna Blanca assistant coach Idalis Rodriguez said.