Carpinteria's 2-0 victory on Thursday gave the two teams a split in their season series.
Bishop Diego's Amanda Garcia tries to keep the ball from her Carpinteria defender..
The fans roared as the Warriors of Carpinteria High School went on to beat Frontier League rivals Bishop Diego 2-0 in a thrilling match at Carpinteria Valley Memorial Stadium on Thursday.
“Our fans were fantastic! It was nice that they were so vocal,” said Carpinteria head coach Lucy Carleton.
The first half was primarily played in the midfield and no goals were scored. Although a 0-0 score line at the break is not usually the plan, the Warriors were right on track according to Carleton.
“The game plan was defense first and hopefully the offense would come. And it did come,” said Carleton.
The offense certainly did come in the second half after Meli Musson played a long ball into Bishop’s box that bounced over the goalkeeper Kim Ruiz in the 50th minute. The Warriors’ sophomore forward Lois Stanley was on the receiving end of that fortunate bounce and scored on the open net to remain Carpinteria’s leading scorer.
The second goal was scored in the 75th minute after Shelby Dunlap stole the ball from the Cardinal back line. Dunlap found herself all alone as she broke away from the defense and scored past a diving Ruiz.
The Warriors improved to 4-2 in the Frontier League. It was revenge for Carpinteria, which fell 3-2 to the Cardinals in an overtime game two weeks ago.
While the Cardinals pressured Carpinteria’s goal during the second half, they could not beat the Warrior’s defensive efforts and Dunlap’s goal put the game out of reach for Bishop.
“We just couldn’t get into rhythm,” said Bishop Diego head coach Brent Gonsalves. “We made two mistakes, they capitalized on them.”
Bishop falls to 3-3 in the Frontier League and 8-6-2 overall.
