Dos Pueblos won the game on Thursday but Santa Barbara High’s girls soccer team won the war.
Soon after the Chargers finished off a 2-0 shutout victory at Peabody Stadium, the Dons players learned that San Marcos had defeated Buena, giving the Dons their first Channel League championship since 1986.
“I think everbody’s tears switched from sadness to happiness like this,” said Dons captain Annie deBruynkops. “It would have been a sad loss if we had not received the news.”
Thursday’s results ended Buena’s 19-year reign as league champions.
“I told these ladies all year, they’re the Hoosiers of Channel League,” said Dons head coach Jeff Johnson. “We don’t have the premiership players that some of these other flagships schools do. But these girls get after it.”
It completes a huge turnaround for Santa Barbara High, which didn’t win a Channel League game last year and only scored one goal in eight league contests. This season they won six of eight matches.
“This group of girls is like no team I’ve ever been on,” said deBruynkops. “We bond as a team, we just mesh together. We’re all best friends. We work on the field. I thought it was a perfect way to end and we’re ready to go take them in CIF.”
Ady Willett and Rachel Smith scored goals for Dos Pueblos, which finishes in fourth place in the league standings. Chargers head coach Jose Guerrero believed his team has a good chance of making CIF as an at-large team.
“Coach was telling us that this could potentially be our last game with all of our seniors that are on the field, and that if we won we would have a chance at a wild card for CIF,” said Dos Pueblos’ Malia Morales.
It was a bittersweet win for the Chargers as the Dons were the ones celebrating after the Dos Pueblos win.
“It does hurt, but we’ve still beaten the league champs so it’s still a good feeling,” Morales said.
The teams will learn their playoff fates when CIF brackets are released on Monday.
