Guess who?
Santa Barbara High’s Briana Lopez scored the game-winner for the Dons girls soccer team on Monday, recording yet another goal in a 1-0 Channel League victory over San Marcos at Peabody Stadium.
Lopez has scored all but three goals this season for Santa Barbara, which leads the Channel League with 14 points and a 4-0-2 record. The Royals fall to 0-5-1 in league.
Santa Barbara and San Marcos battled like all good rivals do at Peabody Stadium.
“We just really want to be Channel League champs,” Lopez said after the game. “We haven’t done that for 16 years so it’s really exciting for us to be this close.”
The Dons have two league matches remaining, starting Tuesday with Ventura. Buena, defending league champions, close out the regular season at Peabody next Tuesday.
ORDER PRINTS ONLINE *** CHANNEL LEAGUE STANDINGS
Lopez put the Dons in a good position with two games left, scoring halfway through the first half. Kirsten Jurich flung a long-range throw-in into the penalty area to Lopez, who was able to turn on it and get off a successful try.
“As much as we don’t like to say it, Briana is the difference because she brings that little dimension of quality,” said Royals head coach Lloyd Biggs.
“I think we did a pretty good job against her,” said Royals senior defender Missy Robertson. “I mean, she had her chances but I think for the most part we shut her down.”
“It stinks because our results that show up in newspapers don’t reflect how we play.”
The problem for San Marcos was more that they’ve been struggling to score goals, getting shut out for the fourth straight game.
“I think we lost a little motivation after they scored because we dominated the first ten minutes,” Robertson said.
San Marcos had more chances in the second half. Lizzy Willet put a shot on goal early in the half before chasing down a ball on the left sideline and taking it the endline for a cross that nearly created a goal for Victoria Uribe.
Halfway through the period, Nicolette Leslie took a corner kick that led to two shots on goal, the second being deflected out of bounds by Dons keeper Allie Chandler.
“We have a pretty awesome defense this year. As a forward, I’m not worried,” said Santa Barbara’s Karli Graf.
The Dons defense hasn’t allowed more than a single goal since a 2-2 tie at Oxnard on Dec. 15, making the Dons confident when Lopez scores.
San Marcos closes its season with matches against Ventura and Dos Pueblos.
