Coming off of a loss from Chino, the Santiago Sharks traveled to their rival, Corona High, for the opening game of conference play. I don’t think anyone can remember the last time Santiago beat Corona AT Corona, according to Coach Mayen and Coach Padilla it has never happened. Well, that changed Wednesday, January 13th.

The Sharks beat the Panthers 2-1 in what started as a sloppy game from both teams, the only goal in the first half coming from Santiago’s Kyle Mether (12). Despite the first half being nothing like the crowd expected, the second half was a different story.

Corona’s pressure paid off eventually, after multiple hairline misses, tying the game. Of course being a student here I wanted Santiago to win; however, I would have been more satisfied with a better way to win. Corona scored an own goal late in the second half, giving the lead to Santiago. But wait, there’s more. The game wasn’t over yet. The last 5 minutes were the most nerve-wrecking of the whole game, not because of the limited good plays, but because of all the chaos surrounding both teams trying to make one last goal. There were dirty plays from both teams, for instance when goal keeper David Brambila (11) blatantly punched a Panther in the head. Thankfully for Santiago there was no call, preventing a possible tie game from a penalty kick. There were multiple cards given to both teams, but a majority of them given to Santiago.

Santiago hosts King on Friday, hopefully their momentum off this win can lead them to another win.

It is safe to say that the Sharks filleted their way into Panther history.