As if the No. 1 team in CIF Division II needed any help, the Santa Barbara Dons boys soccer team benefited from an own goal for the second straight game, this time using it to beat Dos Pueblos 2-1 on a muddy, rough-trodden field at Scott O’Leary Stadium on Thursday.
In two rivalry games this week against San Marcos on Tuesday and then DP, the Dons have been presented with early 1-0 leads due to opponents’ miscues.
“That’s two games in a row that we’ve scored on own-goals,” said Santa Barbara head coach Todd Heil, whose team is now 19-1-1 overall. “But I like to think its the pressure we’re putting on the other team to make those mistakes in front of their own goal.”
Tyler Schleich was applying said pressure when he added the Dons’ second score off an Alex Santana corner kick to make it 2-0 mid-way through the second half.
Considering that Santa Barbara had recorded shutouts in 15 of its 20 games so far this season, a two-goal lead would normally have been more than enough.
But the Chargers did not go quietly, ramping up the pressure in the second half and succeeded in changing the tide of the match.
Luis Mendoza broke through for the Chargers in the 72nd minute by banging home a rebound, rewarding DP for their concerted efforts.
“I’m happy that everyone had the intensity to win,” said senior captain Gustavo Hernandez, though admitting he wished the intensity was there in the first 40 minutes. “I think in the second half we got to see that we can break them down. Second half we’re like, you know what, we got holes we can get through and that’s what we did.”
DP keeper Tony Mendoza kept the Chargers in the game in the final minutes by diving to his left and stopping a penalty kick awarded to the Dons for a trip of Peter Aguilar.
The clock ran out on Dos Pueblos soon after, dropping the Chargers to 0-2-2 in the Channel League.
(Photos taken by John Dvorak/PresidioPics. Prints Avaiable…email [email protected])
