Santa Barbara's Freddy Ibarra leaps to trap a ball with his chest against DP on Tuesday.
Santa Barbara High kept its Channel League title hopes alive on Tuesday with a 1-0 defeat of visiting Dos Pueblos, setting up a Thursday showdown with Ventura that will decide the league championship.
Dons captain Alberto Hernandez plays a ball back to a teammate in the second half.
“It was a really important game to win,” said Dons senior captain Alberto Hernandez. “We’re really tight right now in league going for first place.”
Santa Barbara can claim its second league championship in three years with a victory on Thursday. A loss would hand the Cougars the league title for the second year in a row. And a tie would give San Marcos, which defeated Buena on Tuesday, a share of the title with the Dons.
Santa Barbara was coming off its first league loss and dominated possession for most of the 80 minutes while creating several dangerous attempts on goal.
“It was a grind and I’m proud of the boys for that, because not every game is going to be pretty,” said Dons head coach Todd Heil. “I think if we would of had this type of game a month ago, maybe two months ago, it could of gone the other way.
“Tonight was about understanding that we weren’t at our best but we were able to hold on to the 1-0 lead and I’m proud of the boys for that.”
Hernandez provided the Dons with their lone goal. In the 16th minute, Hernandez scored off a feed from Alfredo Ibarra that was set-up on a free kick from Jelan Hutton.
For Dos Pueblos, bright spots included a stopped penalty kick in the first half by Nick Van Hoorn and a couple of defensive plays that kept the Dons from scoring more.
“We do talk about marking our posts a little bit, protecting your keeper when you can,” said Dos Pueblos head coach Matt York.
The Chargers, who have not been able to pull out a league win so far in seven tries, also have one match remaining – a Thursday game vs. Buena.
Dos Pueblos has played the Dons three times this season and while each result has been a loss, the combined score is only 4-0.
“We seem to always play them close but for whatever reason, they keep nipping us this year,” York said.
