Dos Pueblos boys soccer pulled out a 4-2 victory over the Rio Mesa Spartans for their first win of the league season on Thursday.
“Overall I’m really proud of our team’s performance,” Dos Pueblos coach Matt York said. “Bouncing back after a couple of tough losses shows some of the grit that we are hoping to demonstrate.
“We had possession of the ball a lot in the first half and I thought that really ended up opening some opportunities for us offensively that we were able to capitalize with our forwards.”
Luka Jevremovic got Dos Pueblos rolling just seven minutes into the match, taking a through ball from Tiago Rodriguez and poking the ball into the net.
They stayed hot just six minutes later after JP Garcia fired a shot that was blocked by the Rio Mesa goalkeeper. Kaj Laub finished off the shot with a goal to take a 2-0 lead, which held into halftime.
Dos Pueblos maintained that momentum in the second half, scoring goals in the 46th and 49th minutes.
Devin Campero netted a penalty kick score while Laub picked up his second of the night off an assist by Rodriguez.
“Man of the match honors goes to forward Kaj Laub, who hustled all night and was able to be in good positioning for the fourth goal and also in positioning for our second goal on the night,” York said. “Good hustle while being in good locations plus a positive attitude helped us get the extensions we needed.”
Rio Mesa scored the final two goals of the night but they couldn’t make up for the four-score deficit.
The Chargers (3-2-3, 1-2-0) will face off against San Marcos on the road on Saturday at 12:30 p.m.
Santa Barbara 1, Buena 0
Eli Myers scored the game-winning goal to vault the Dons to a 1-0 victory.
Santa Barbara controlled the ball for the majority of the match thanks in part to the defensive play of Alex Vasquez, Jeremy Lopez, Pietro Nascente, Walker Jensen and Josue Ventura.
“Everyone worked hard, but we’ve got to give credit to the back four and Josue,” Dons coach Ricardo Alcaraz said. “They worked their tail off. Sammy Ceballos was also solid on set pieces tonight coming out and catching balls out of the air.”
Despite holding the possession, the Dons couldn’t find the back of the net in the first half.
“We were not getting behind their back four, so second half that was our goal, get in behind them, put them on their heels,” Alcaraz said.
The lone goal came in the 73rd minute when Eric Guzman crossed the ball into Jesus Miranda, who beat a defender and served the ball to Myers, who put it away for the game-winner.
The Dons (2-1-1, 2-0-1) will host Ventura on Saturday.
San Marcos 1, Ventura 1
The Royals picked up a 1-1 draw with Ventura on the road.
The Cougars got on the board in the first half after finishing off a loose ball, putting San Marcos into an early deficit.
In the second half, Royals junior Luis Botello slotted a free kick into the upper left corner of the goal, scoring the equalizer. The 1-1 score held for the rest of the match.
“Ventura worked hard in the midfield and did a good job getting to first balls,” San Marcos coach Paul McLean said. “We struggled to capitalize on the chances that we had. Stevie Bradley and Yael Garay did a great job on their 1v1 defending.
“We have great opportunities to improve in lots of areas and are looking forward to becoming a better team on the practice field.”
San Marcos (2-2-2, 1-1-2) face off against Dos Pueblos on Saturday.
Laguna Blanca 4, Coast Union 3
The Owls fought off a Coast Union comeback effort en route to a high-scoring victory.
Mason Berg opened up the scoring for Laguna Blanca with a goal in the 15th minute to take a 1-0 lead.
Just a few minutes later, Inak Phillips doubled the Owls’ lead with a goal of his own to go up 2-0.
Laguna Blanca kept it rolling as Berg netted his second score of the night to take a 3-0 lead, which held into halftime.
That lead was sustained by a trio of great saves from Owls goalkeeper Enzo Vinoly.
Coast Union came out of the halftime break on fire, ripping off three straight goals to knot the match up at 3-3.
In the final minutes of the matchup, Laguna Blanca’s Baylor Wilson was awarded a corner kick. Wilson crossed it into the box, where Finlay Sutherland took control and found the back of the net for the game-winner.
“I’m very proud of the boys,” Owls coach Rick Rodriguez said. “We adjusted despite the three goals we gave up and managed to stay focused. It was a good way to go into our winter break.”
Girls Soccer
San Marcos 3, Ventura 1
The Royals came up with a big 3-1 win over the Cougars in their third match of the week.
“Going into this game, we knew we needed to get a win,” San Marcos coach Brian Ziegenhagen said. “This was a big game for us because we knew we had to stay on par with the league leaders.”
After a physical start to the matchup, the Royals got on the board first in the 16th minute when Leilani Venegas hit Zeina Matni, who finished it off for the score on the opposite side of the goal.
Ventura then threatened offensively multiple times and finally came through in the 27th minute for the equalizer.
Early in the second half, Venegas took advantage of a free kick and found Nicolly Oh, who buried the ball in the back of the net to regain the lead.
Matni tacked on her second and the Royals’ third goal of the night in the 65th minute after beating a trio of defenders for the solo score. She now has four goals on the young season.
“This was a great team win with individual brilliance in small group communication and commitment,” Ziegenhagen said. “We’re going to need this belief and energy when we play DP away.”
The Royals will take on the Chargers on the road on Friday at 12:30 p.m.
Dos Pueblos 0, Rio Mesa 0
A physical matchup ended in a scoreless draw between league rivals Dos Pueblos and Rio Mesa.
Three yellow cards were handed out as both teams played aggressively.
“Tonight, the group took a step forward in growing as a team, every field player had crucial minutes in the game which will help us develop and gain confidence,” Chargers coach Marco Medina said.
The midfield lineup of Katie Peterson, Emma Basave, Stephanie Carranza and Sarah Daniels turned in a solid group performance to set the team’s tempo.
Goalkeeper Maggie Gallup preserved the scoreless tie in the first half by blocking a crucial penalty kick.
“Rio Mesa is a very organized team, switching the ball from side to side and defending in numbers,” Medina said. “We had few chances on the attack yet were not able to find the back of the net.
“We will take the shutout, the one point and move on to the next game.”
Laguna Blanca 3, Coast Union 2
The Owls picked up their second straight victory with a 3-2 win over Coast Union.
Tallulah Steager and Jordyn Garcia got Laguna Blanca started in the first half with both of the team’s goals.
At the end of the first, the Owls led 2-0.
Coast Union made a push in the second half with two goals of their own, but Laguna Blanca’s Paloma Lujan netted the eventual game-winner early in the second.