Kelseyville, Lower Lake nail down North Central League I shutouts
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LAKEPORT >> Mikaela Rico scored nine minutes into the second half, breaking a scoreless tie and lifting the Kelseyville Knights to their 11th straight victory, a 1-0 win over the Clear Lake Cardinals on Tuesday evening at Don Owens Stadium in Lakeport.
“The Lady Knight and Lady Cardinals both showed up ready to battle tonight, and from the opening whistle to the final seconds, this was an exciting and hard-fought game,” Kelseyville head coach Irma Rodriguez said.
Kelseyville (8-0 league, 14-1-1 overall) was playing Clear Lake (4-4, 11-4-1) for the third time this season. The Cardinals beat the Knights 2-0 in the season opener for both teams Aug. 18 in Kelseyville, while the Knights defeated the Cardinals 2-1 in their first league meeting Sept. 10 in Kelseyville.
“It was a great match,” Clear Lake head coach Gustavo Carbajal said. “We played our hearts out today.”
Both teams had scoring opportunities in the first half, but keepers Amelie Davis of Clear Lake and Grace Hobbs of Kelseyville turned back everything headed their way.
“There were moments when the Lady Cardinals were able to get behind the Lady Knights’ defense and create dangerous opportunities, but Grace and the Knights’ defense continued to shut them down,” Rodriguez said.
Kelseyville’s game-winning goal was the result of a free kick.
“Hiliana Rico stepped up to take it and sent the ball into the center of the goal box,” Rodriguez said. “The ball bounced in front of several players, creating an opportunity, and Mikaela Rico crashed the box, got to the ball, and put it into the back of the net.”
While that proved to be the end of the scoring, it wasn’t the end of the action.
“They (Cardinals) continued attacking and were awarded some dangerous free kicks that gave them opportunities to get back into the game,” Rodriguez said.
“I’m proud of my team,” Carbajal said after the nail-biting loss.
Lower Lake 2, Upper Lake 0
At Lower Lake, bouncing back from a 4-1 loss on Thursday against Kelseyville, the Lower Lake Trojans shut out the Upper Lake Cougars at Gordon Sadler Field.
Genesis Medrano and Loreno Inong scored for the Trojans (7-1, 11-4-1) while Prisila Martinez assisted on both goals.
“They were playing beautifully together,” Lower Lake assistant coach Anna Brin said of the Trojans. “We came in a little rattled from our loss to Kelseyville, but we were able to come out with another win.”
Brin said the play of Lower Lake’s defensive line was critical in the victory.
“Kenia Garcia, Jennifer DeJesus, Valerie Calderon and Estefany Cardenas, and our goalie Madeline de la Torre deserve a huge shoutout,” Brin said. “It is easy to give shoutouts to our players who scored, but our defense is a huge part of our success this year. They are so strong and work really well together. They are magic to watch when they are defending the goal.”
Upper Lake is 1-7 in league and 1-13 overall.
Lower Lake returns to action Thursday in Willits at 5 p.m. Upper Lake hosts Clear Lake on Thursday at 6:15 p.m.
