Carpinteria withstood the physical play of Oak Park and came away with a 3-1 victory that clinched a tie for the Tri-Valley League boys soccer title Friday night.
The Warriors improved to 9-1 with two matches remaining.
“It was an ugly one,” said Carpinteria coach Daniel Torres of the match. “We didn’t play well and Oak Park is a little disruptive. They were more physical.”
After falling behind in the 18th minute, Mohammad Mehai got the Warriors even in the 34th minute.
Edwin Elizarraras put Carpinteria into the lead with a penalty kick in the 62nd minute Oak Park was called for a hand ball in the box.
Luca Rigonati’s nice finish in the 77th minute completed the scoring.
After opening the league campaign with a 4-1 loss to Oaks Christian, Carpinteria has reeled off nine straight wins.
“The boys deserve it, they put in the work day in and day out,” Torres said. “(The league-opening loss) definitely was a wakeup call. That was our third straight loss. The boys took that to heart. They didn’t like that feeling of losing that many games in a row. They picked it up on and off the field.”
Carpinteria (14-6) plays at Malibu on Monday.
