Hamstring injury sidelines Knights star in final tuneup before the start of league play
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ROSEVILLE >> Losing the game was bad enough, but the loss of the team’s top scorer on the season, Jair Inostroza Carrillo, simply added insult to injury for the Kelseyville Knights in a 3-2 boys soccer loss to Western Sierra Collegiate Academy on Friday in Roseville.
Inostroza Carrillo exited the non-league contest early in the first half with a hamstring injury and couldn’t return.
“We will keep an eye on it over the next week,” Kelseyville head coach Kc White said of the injury. “Hopefully he’ll be able to play on Thursday (home against Clear Lake, 6:15 p.m.).”
Uriel Castillo Ochoa did a good job picking up the slack for the Knights (3-3-1) by scoring goals in each half. They were assisted by Jorge Gonzalez and Joey Watson.
Kelseyville trailed 2-1 at halftime.
“Credit my team after the injury,” White said. “Sometimes teams fold when a leader goes down, but they used it as motivation. In the sixth minute we took advantage on a throw deep in our offensive zone, and Jorge Gonzalez found Uriel Castillo Ochoa for the lead.”
Western Sierra Collegiate Academy pulled even with a goal in the 18 minute and went ahead 2-1 in the 30th minute.
Kelseyville tied the game 2-2 just three minutes into the second half. Watson took a long throw-in from Gonzalez and used his head to flick it back to Castillo Ochoa, who knocked it home.
Western Sierra Collegiate Academy pulled ahead to stay in the 52nd minute.
“Once we fell behind, we didn’t give up,” White said. “We created a couple of really good chances in the box, but we missed the net. Those are chances we really have to put on goal.”
White gave high marks to the play of keeper Cesar Silva and center-mids Gerardo Garcia and Anthony Arias.
“Cesar Silva was really great today,” White said. “He made seven really good saves to keep us in the game. A lot of guys have to play out of position, including my consistent defender, Gerardo Garcia, who was forced to close the game at center-mid. Anthony Arias, my freshman center-mid, is showing tremendous growth. He is becoming more and more confident with possession of the ball and is distributing like a veteran center-mid.”
Added White, “I’m really proud of my team today. Down a captain (Julio Lopez) for the fourth game in a row and losing Inostroza Carrillo early really put us behind the eight ball today, but my young team really stepped up. While losing sucks, this game, the fact that I was forced to go deep into my bench, will pay dividends for us as we gear up for league play next week.”
Kelseyville’s home game Thursday against Clear Lake is the North Central League I opener for both teams. Kelseyville, Lower Lake and Fort Bragg tied for the league title a year ago.
