Lower Lake, Clear Lake, Upper Lake also come away with league victories
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CLOVERDALE >> Two girls soccer teams on a pretty good roll squared off Tuesday evening in Cloverdale, but it didn’t take long for the Kelseyville Knights to flex their proverbial muscle.
Kelseyville, undefeated league champion a year ago, took another step – its 12th to be exact – in repeating that feat with a 5-0 victory over an Eagles squad that had gone 4-0-1 in its last five North Central League I games.
Jacky Evans and Hiliana Rico scored twice and Kylee Denham once as the Knights not only secured a second straight undisputed league championship under head coach Irma Rodriguez but moved a win closer to another undefeated league season. Kelseyville is now 12-0 with two games remaining, 18-1-1 overall and a winner of 15 in a row.
“Kelseyville came out ready to play tonight and so did the Cloverdale Eagles, but our Lady Knights were able to shut them down,” Rodriguez said.
Chavez scored each of the Knights’ first two goals and Denham the next as the Knights had the game securely in hand by halftime with a 3-0 advantage. Rico tacked on a pair of insurance goals in the second half.
“Goalkeeper Grace Hobbs did a great job in the box tonight,” Rodriguez said. “There were some tough moments, but Grace stayed strong and was able to keep the Eagles off the scoreboard and earn the shutout.”
Rodriguez also praised the play of Vanessa Reyes, Ximena Herren, Brooke Poff, Dakotah Burton, Lexxi Pantaleon, Dezi Anderson and Ana Gutierrez.
“Vanessa Reyes did a great job controlling the center of the field while out defense (Herren, Poff, Burton, Pantaleon, Anderson and Gutierrez) worked hard shutting down runs and sending the ball back up the field,” Rodriguez said.
“We played a really good game tonight,” Rodriguez said. “As coaches we are incredibly proud of these girls. They played united as a team, trusted one another and worked for each other every minute they were on the field.”
The Knights are home Thursday against Middletown for senior night and close out league play and the regular season next Tuesday in Lower Lake.
In other league action Tuesday:
Lower Lake 4, Fort Bragg 0
At Lower Lake, Zully Esquivel scored twice while Genesis Medrano and Aleah Garcia had one goal apiece as the Lower Lake Trojans secured their second-place spot in the league standings with a shutout of the Fort Bragg Timberwolves.
Garcia, Medrano, Evelyn Vargas and Valerie Calderon had assists in the win.
“Our girls played their hearts out,” Lower Lake assistant coach Anna Brin said. “Our goalie is out with an injury, which meant pulling out starting forward Juliza (Sevilla) to be in the goal. All that change didn’t phase them, and they played like a well-oiled machine.”
Added Brin, “Something I love about my team is that we don’t have one key player that defends or one that scores. That all shows up at different times and tonight every single one of them showed up big.”
Lower Lake (8-2-1) has league games remaining against Clear Lake (Thursday in Lakeport), Kelseyville and Upper Lake.
Clear Lake 5, Middletown 1
At Middletown, Sellena Carbajal scored three goals in the first half and another in the second half as the Clear Lake Cardinals beat the Middletown Mustangs. Jeanette Luevano also scored. Isabella Carbajal picked up two assists and Sellena Carbajal one.
“The team played a great game today right from the start,” Clear Lake head coach Gustavo Carbajal said. “They worked hard as a team, and it showed today until the very end.”
Clear Lake improved to 6-4-2 in the league standings and 14-4-3 overall.
Middletown (4-8, 8-11) scored on a Trinity Wood penalty kick in the second half.
“It was definitely a hard game for the Lady Mustangs tonight,” Middletown head coach Cassi Clark said. “Still, they fought all the way to the final whistle.”
Middletown plays Thursday in Kelseyville at 4:30 p.m. while Clear Lake hosts Lower Lake at 4:30 p.m.
Upper Lake 2, Willits 1
At Upper Lake, Portia Klier scored two goals, her final one with eight minutes remaining, to lift the Upper Lake Cougars to a win over the Willits Wolverines, the Cougars’ second straight league victory.
Upper Lake (3-8, 3-14) trailed 1-0 before Klier’s first goal tied it up late in the first half.
“In the second half both teams moved the ball and had shots on goal,” Upper Lake head coach Jim Keck said. “With about eight minutes left Portia Klier against broke free past two defenders and with a well-placed shot scored the second Upper Lake goal.”
Added Keck, “The Cougar defense held off several Wolverine attacks to seal the win.”
Upper Lake goalkeeper Charlie Robbins certainly did her part in the win with 22 saves.
The Cougars travel to Cloverdale on Thursday to play the Eagles at 4 p.m. Upper Lake finishes up its league and regular-season schedule with home games against Middletown next Tuesday and Lower Lake on Thursday, Oct. 29.
