Sun still shining on Dons’ perfect season

Transitioning from Friday night’s monumental CIF Championship game against Dos Pueblos to Tuesday’s Division II SoCal Regional contest against Arleta was a bit strange for Santa Barbara’s boys soccer team.

One was played under the lights at Harder Stadium in front of a roaring crowd of 8,000, while the other was on a chilly, windy afternoon in front of about 500 at Peabody Stadium.

“Yesterday in practice felt almost surreal to us after Friday night’s game, but luckily everybody was ready to play today and we got a good result,” said Dons captain Jesse Gonzalez, who scored in the fifth minute of Tuesday’s 4-0 victory.

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Santa Barbara (30-0-1) will host Dinuba in Thursday’s 4 p.m. semifinal contest. Dinuba defeated Mountain View on penalty kicks on Tuesday afternoon.

Jesse Gonzalez

Gonzalez struck after being taken down just outside the box in the fifth minute. Alex Santana lined up like he was going to take the kick, but Gonzalez swooped in with his left foot and bent it in the low corner of the net.

Santa Barbara would get a few more good runs at the goal in the ensuing minutes, but the Mustangs (11-5-2) managed to keep the possession battle rather even.

Although the Dons would add two more goals before halftime, coach Todd Heil said his team wasn’t clicking in the first half.

“I don’t think we avoided the letdown, if you watched that first half,” he said. “I know we were up 3-0, but I don’t think we played well in that first half… Except for Jesse’s goal, I felt like the other ones were sort of on counter-attacks. I felt like they (Arleta was) possessing a little bit better.”

Alfredo Ibarra scored the second goal in the 34th minute, as Brian Joseff crossed a ball into the middle that was pin-balled around before Ibarra slid and jammed it past Mustangs goalie Angel Ocampos.

Joseff then made a run down the sideline in injury time and sent it in again, this time finding George Munoz at the near post for a sliding score.

Gonzalez was leading a 3-on-2 break just past midfield at the end of the half, but the referee whistled for the intermission in the middle of the play.

“I told the boys at halftime ‘Look, it’s great to be up 3-0, but I don’t think we’re playing our best soccer,’” recalled Heil.

The fourth goal came in the first minute of the second half, when Edgar Ruiz floated a ball from the corner of the box that went in the upper-v of the far post.

“We got in our groove in the second half and possessed the ball very well,” said Heil.

Nearly every local team would agree that the CIF Southern Section title is the ultimate goal of the season, and the ensuing state tournament is often an afterthought. That case can particularly be made for soccer, as the regional tourney began just three years ago.

“It would be great to win it, but that Friday night was something I don’t think we’ll ever forget,” said Heil. “But this is fun and we’re looking to keep going. We’ve got something we want to keep, and that’s an undefeated record, so we’re hoping to maintain that.”