Santa Barbara and Dos Pueblos Rivalry Games Ends in 2-2 Draw

Santa Barbara High sophomore Lanaya Solis forced a turnover, dribbled up the field and delivered a left-footed equalizer from outside the box in the 65th minute.

The rivalry matchup between Dons and visiting Dos Pueblos ended in a 2-2 tie on Friday night at Peabody Stadium.

“It’s a rivalry. A lot of these girls play with each other at the club level so it’s more just banter between each other,” said Santa Barbara High coach Willie Sims. “At the end of the day both teams are good and today was just one of the days where we were switched on.”

The Dons got on the board first with a goal against the run of play. Lanaya Solis found Paloma Valenzuela for a right-footed shot to the left of the Dos Pueblos goalkeeper.

Santa Barbara comeback nullified an outstanding performance by Dos Pueblos sophomore Maleka Wilcox who scored two goals, including an incredible free kick from 30 yards out that shot like a laser beam into the side netting in the 29th minute that tied the score at 1-1.

“She has been working on that. We have given her a lot of them, but she has been working on them on her own,” said Dos Pueblos coach Marco Medina. “That was a fantastic strike from 30 yards out right in the corner; pretty sweet.”

Dos Pueblos took a 2-1 lead in the 58th minute when freshman Alina Seidel dribbled along the inline and sent a beautiful pass to Wilcox, who calmly finished.

However, the Dons would not quit. A free kick from just outside the box by Alyssa Ortiz was accurately struck, but hit off the crossbar.

Santa Barbara’s pressure finally paid off with about 15 minutes remaining when Solis delivered a moment of brilliance to tie the score.

Dos Pueblos created several nice opportunities in the final ten minutes, but could not find a game-winning goal.

The Chargers last five games have all ended in ties. They are still in playoff contention, but will need to win a couple games down the stretch to clinch the final playoff berth out of the Channel League.

We have seven ties. I’ve never seen that ever,” Medina said. “We’re still in the running for the playoffs, we’ve just got to get two or three wins.”