Clear Lake girls soccer team blanks Upper Lake; Lower Lake ties Willits
Lake County Sports on Facebook
KELSEYVILLE >> After a sluggish first half, the Kelseyville Knights got their offense back online and scored three times to pull away from and beat the Fort Bragg Timberwolves 4-0 in North Central League I girls soccer action Thursday in Kelseyville.
“This was not one of our better games as the Lady Knights started off slow and just didn’t seem to have their usual energy,” Kelseyville head coach Irma Rodriguez said.
Mikaela Rico staked the Knights to a 1-0 lead late in the first half.
“The second half started much the same, with the Lady Knights still struggling to find their rhythm,” Rodriguez said. “Whether it was the heat or just one of those days, the girls weren’t quite playing like themselves. Still, they were able to create opportunities and capitalize on them.”
Hiliana Rico, Kylee Denham and Vanessa Reyes scored in the second half as the league-leading Knights (9-0 league, 15-1-1) pulled away. Denham’s and Reyes’ goals came on free kicks.
Kelseyville is 14-0-1 since dropping its season opener to Clear Lake and has won 12 straight. The defending league champions are closing in on a second straight title.
“Credit goes to Fort Bragg (1-7, 3-9) for putting up a good fight and continuing to play hard until the final whistle,” Rodriguez said. “Even though it wasn’t our strongest performance, the Lady Knights found a way to get the job done and come away with the win.”
Kelseyville hosts Upper Lake on Tuesday at 6:15 p.m.
In other girls soccer action Thursday:
Clear Lake 2, Upper Lake 0
At Upper Lake, first-half goals by Sellena Carbajal and Jeanette Luevano carried the Clear Lake Cardinals (5-4, 12-4-1) to a win over the Upper Lake Cougars (1-7, 1-13).
Upper Lake beat Clear Lake 1-0 on Sept. 15 in Lakeport for its only win of the season to date.
Haylie Garcia assisted on both of Clear Lake’s goals.
“Great game,” Clear Lake head coach Gustavo Carbajal said of the Cardinals’ performance.
“I’m super proud of our girls tonight,” Upper Lake head coach Jim Keck said. “We took the field with 12 girls able to play. Many of our girls had to step up into positions new to them and play tired with only one sub.”
Keck praised the play of Re’Onna Duncan, Avelia Brady and Natalia Harle.
“All had game great games playing at positions they were not accustomed to,” Keck said. “Lilly Boke and Millie Thomsen powered through injuries and played almost the entire game.”
Added Keck, “All the girls played tough. Charlie Robbins again had a great game in goal with 12 saves. We are looking forward to next week with a weekend to rest and everyone back.”
Clear Lake hosts Willits on Tuesday at 6:15 p.m. while Upper Lake travels to Kelseyville for a 6:15 p.m. game.
Lower Lake 1, Willits 1 (tie)
At Willits, the Lower Lake Trojans escaped Willits with a 1-1 tie, but lost ground to the first-place Kelseyville Knights in the process.
Lower Lake is 7-1-1 and now trails the undefeated Knights (9-0) by a game and a half with five games remaining for both teams.
No other details were reported.
Lower Lake plays at Cloverdale on Tuesday at 5:30 p.m.
