Santa Barbara High and Dos Pueblos battled under a colorful sunset in Tuesday’s Channel League match. (Presidio Sports Photo)
Malia Morales, Ady Willett and Idalis Rodriguez delivered goals for Dos Pueblos on Tuesday in the Chargers’ 3-2 victory over Santa Barbara in a Channel League game.
Morales’ goal gave Dos Pueblos an early 1-0 lead. After Santa Barbara equalized on a goal by Hannah Ross, Ady Willett scored for DP giving the Chargers a 2-1 halftime lead.
Dos Pueblos gained a 3-1 advantage in the second half when Rodriguez finished off a long throw by Morales in the 60th minute. The insurance goal was needed as Santa Barbara’s Alea Hyatt scored a couple minutes later to make it a one-goal game again.
Santa Barbara produced opportunities for the equalizer in the final 15 minutes, including a long free kick by Hyatt that bounced in front of the goal mouth, to no avail.
“When you play those crosstown rivals it’s always a good game. It’s more than just a game, there’s pride at stake,” said Dos Pueblos head coach Hugh Hollis.
After just two league games, Dos Pueblos and Santa Barbara find themselves on opposite sides of the standings. The Chargers are 2-0 while the Dons fall to 0-2.
“It was so important. We needed a win against Santa Barbara because their one of our big rivals,” said Morales, who has three assists in two Channel League games using her throw-in.
The Dos Pueblos attack has been clicking in general, scoring seven goals in its first two league matches.
“I thought we connected really well,” Morales said. “We’ve been working on that a lot in practice and it just showed in the game. I’m really proud of us and how much we’ve accomplished compared to the beginning of the season.”
Hollis and the Chargers tried as much as possible to avoid Santa Barbara’s strongest defenders in Erin Graf and Julie Pitney.
“We wanted to constantly put pressure on the ball, on the opponents, and particularly we wanted to focus on the lefthand side,” Hollis explained.
Willett’s goal came attacking the left side of the Dons defense. The senior used her speed to outrun defenders onto a forward pass, then used her strength to blast a 20 yard shot past the keeper with two defenders on her side and back.
Hyatt finished with a goal and an assist for Santa Barbara. The sophomore created the Dons’ first goal by chasing down a ball at the endline and feeding Ross for the goal.
“I am really encouraged by our team’s performance and the improvements we are making as a team,” said Dons head coach Jill Wolf. “The girls effort and intensity continues to grow with each game. I am really proud of their fighting spirit.”
The two teams play again on February 3.
