A 61st-minute goal off the head of Irving Garcia and a strong defensive showing powered Santa Barbara High boys soccer to a 1-0 win over crosstown rival Dos Pueblos on Thursday night at Scott O’Leary Stadium.
The Dons are now 1-1-0 to begin their Channel League season after back-to-back matchups against crosstown rivals this week. Meanwhile, the Chargers 0-2-0 against league opponents after one week of action.
“I’m really proud of the guys and how they bounced back today, especially how the game ended on Tuesday at San Marcos,” Santa Barbara High head coach Ricardo Alcaraz said. “It is tough to start Channel League on the road against our two rivals, but the guys stepped up today.
“Credit to a DP, they were on us in the first half. We made some adjustments at halftime and clearly they worked; the boys listened, and we got an important win for sure.”
Dos Pueblos coach Oscar Garcia remains confident in his team heading into another week of league play before a break for the holidays.
“The message is let this one hurt a little bit tonight, but we’ve got to flip the page, because we have two games and we can really turn around our season once again,” Oscar Garcia said. “I think we played well tonight. I think we created chances, so we look forward to just getting our get-back against [SB] and just getting two more games next week.”
It was a defensive struggle in the opening stages, as both defenses prevented their opposition from taking a shot in the first 15 minutes of play.
After the two sides battled in the midfield early, Dos Pueblos found some creases and missed a pair of shots wide right in the 15th minute.
The Chargers continued to threaten as the half rolled on, but Santa Barbara High goalkeeper Tadeo Lopez came up with huge saves in the 24th and 26th minutes to keep the game scoreless.
One of the saves came on a 1-on-1 opportunity with Dos Pueblos’ Atton Hayes, who fired a strong shot to the goal, but Lopez extended out for the diving save.
Both teams had chances late in the half but couldn’t find the back of the net to send the game into halftime scoreless.
“It was a tough game, but we pretty much stuck to our game plan, stuck to working hard and the boys did well,” Oscar Garcia said. “It’s a rivalry game. We circle this game on the calendar. We can say it’s just another game, but every time you play one of the two, San Marcos or Santa Barbara, you’re going to feel a little special.”
The beginning of the second half mirrored the start of the first as neither team managed a shot until a pair of Santa Barbara High attempts soared out of bounds in the 50th minute of play.
Dos Pueblos responded with several runs at the box, but the Dons’ backline stood tall and Lopez came up with another save to keep the game tied.
“This defense has been together since last year,” Alcaraz said. “Last year, obviously, we didn’t have the best season, but they worked hard. They’re a tight-knit group… You can just tell that their physical presence and their height is there. They’re doing really well defensively.”
In the 61st minute, Santa Barbara High sent a cross into the penalty box that connected with Irving Garcia’s head and ricocheted toward the goal. However, Dos Pueblos’ Kieran Buell blocked the ball away.
That ball trickled out of the box and was sent back to Saul Lopez on the outside, who delivered another perfect cross that found the head of Garcia once again. This time, Garcia directed the shot into the back of the net for the 1-0 lead.
“At halftime, we told the boys, ‘Somebody’s got to show personality and not let the coaches tell you guys what to do,’” Alcaraz said. “On that play, Pablo Desales saw that there was an opening, and we didn’t have to tell him. He saw an opening, played right to Saul. Saul calmly took a touch, crossed it in. We got a really good opportunity. The ball came out, and his one-time cross was amazing.
“Irving Garcia is a classy player, and that was a classy finish, nice little header.”
Dos Pueblos made several runs at the goal late in the game, but they were consistently turned away by Tadeo Lopez and the stout Santa Barbara High backline to give the Dons the shutout victory.
“Our first half wasn’t our best, but in the second half we came out a little bit calmer, a little bit more collected,” Alcaraz said. “We were able to complete a few strings of passes and I think we deserved the win today.”
Santa Barbara High will host Oxnard on Tuesday at 6:45 p.m., while Dos Pueblos will hit the road to take on Ventura on Tuesday at 5:15 p.m.