Varsity squad drops 9-1 decision, junior varsity team loses 6-0
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SANTA ROSA >> Roseland University Prep jumped out to a 4-0 halftime lead and cruised past the Kelseyville Knights 9-1 in North Central League I varsity boys soccer action Saturday at Sonoma Academy High School in Santa Rosa.
Jake Smart’s goal in the second half, assisted by Luis Valdovinos, allowed Kelseyville (0-2-1 league, 1-13-3 overall) to avoid the shutout.
“Firstly, I want to applaud RUP on the excellence of their team of their athletes,” Kelseyville head coach KC White said. “They are most definitely the most talented team we have faced this year.”
Added White, “We could have easily had a few more goals today, which may have changed the game a little bit. After a while, when a team scores nine goals on you, you lose the motivation to continue to compete, which led to a few goals at the end. We started pretty well, but then we stopped marking on defense and it led to open guys making runs on the goal. In the first half.”
Smart’s goal in the second half was clearly the highlight for the Knights.
“The goal was scored on a beautiful pass by Luis Valdovinos back from deep within the zone to a cutting Jake Smart, who put the easy goal in,” White said. “That particular goal makes me extremely happy as it was something we worked on in practice yesterday after not being able to capitalize on similar attempts on Thursday.”
Going up against RUP (3-0, 5-2-2) at less than full strength didn’t help, according to White.
“I had a short bench today as I had multiple players miss the game due to family events, which led to a lot of tired guys,” White said. “RUP is not the team you want to play underhanded.”
Kelseyville resumes league play Tuesday against St. Helena. The game will take place at Clear Lake High School in Lakeport.
“We dropped a 2-0 decision at St. Helena a couple weeks ago, so this is a date that we have had circle,” White said. “We will be ready.”
Junior varsity
Kelseyville’s junior varsity team fell 6-0 to RUP, dropping to 0-2 in league and 0-5 overall.
“I had a guy in goal today that has never played there before because my starter didn’t show up,” White said. “It’s really unfortunate because that decision just lets the entire team down.”
Added White, “We created chances, but couldn’t convert. The second half was another story. The effort for a lot of the guys was lacking. If there is something that irks me the most when I’m coaching, it’s not putting effort in. This is a young team and every minute of game time is important for their development.”
White praised the effort of Jayden Fabisch.
“Jayden Fabisch is my starting keeper on varsity, but I have put him in the field the last couple games for JV and he has impressed me,” White said. “However, with the move to fall soccer next year, it will be one and done for Jayden as his passion is football. I’m proud of him for coming out and trying something new this year. The same can be said for Roman Mathis. He is playing soccer for the first time and is one of the few JV players that plays the entire game. It’s been nice to get to know him this year.”
