Lower Lake girls earn draw with Tomales while Mustangs drop 1-0 decision at home
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FERNDALE >> Avenging one of its two losses from last season, the Kelseyville High School girls soccer team remained red-hot this season with a 1-0 road victory Tuesday against the Ferndale Wildcats.
Kelseyville improved to 6-1-1 with its sixth shutout win of the 2026 campaign. The Knights are 6-0-1 during their last seven games and will have the opportunity to avenge their only loss this season when they return home Thursday to play the Clear Lake Cardinals (5-0-1) in the North Central League I opener for both teams. Clear Lake beat Kelseyville 2-0 in the season opener for both teams last month in Kelseyville.
Mikaela Rico’s goal, assisted by teammate Melanie Jimenez, snapped a scoreless tie late in the second half.
“But we knew we couldn’t stop there,” Kelseyville head coach Irma Rodriguez said. “We had to keep fighting and stay strong defensively because the Wildcats were doing everything they could to get past us. Our girls stepped up, stayed together and shut them down.”
Added Rodgiruez, “This was an incredible battle between two teams that fought hard from the very first whistle to the very last.”
Every Knight on the field played a part in the hard-fought non-league victory, according to Rodriguez.
“Grace Hobbs had another great game in the goal box, coming up with some big saves and shutting down several dangerous shots from Ferndale,” Rodriguez said.
Other significant contributors, according to Rodriguez, were Jacky Chavez, Brooke Poff, Dakota Burton, Ana Gutierrez, Ximena Herren, Vanessa Reyes, Hiliana Rico, Kylee Denham and Lexxi Pantaleon.
“This was not a league game, but this win meant a lot to us,” Rodriguez said.
Ferndale beat Kelseyville 3-1 a year ago at the Tyler Duncan Memorial Tournament in Upper Lake, the 2025 season opener for the Knights. Kelseyville went on to win 22 of its next 23 games and finish 22-2 overall.
“I am so incredibly proud of the Lady Knights today,” Rodriguez said. “They played with determination, fought through the moments when things weren’t going our way, and most importantly, they held it together and fought for each other until that final whistle.”
In other non-league girls action Tuesday:
Lower Lake 2, Tomales 2 (tie)
At Tomales, the Lower Lake Trojans took a 2-0 lead into halftime in their tie with the Tomales Braves, who rallied to tie it in the second half.
Scoring and other game details weren’t reported as Lower Lake dropped to 4-3-1 on the season.
The Trojans open their league schedule Thursday in Upper Lake at 4:30 p.m.
Credo 1, Middletown 0
At Middletown, Credo snapped Middletown’s three-game winning streak.
No other game details were reported as Middletown fell to 4-4 on the season.
The Mustangs open their league schedule Thursday at home against Willits at 6:45 p.m.
