Clear Lake boys advance to Division 3 semifinals, play Tomales at home Wednesday
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LAKEPORT >> Levi Ewing finished what he started Saturday night scoring the first and final goals for the Clear Lake Cardinals in a dramatic 4-3 double-overtime victory over Brave Christian of Dublin in the quarterfinal round of the North Coast Section Division 3 boys soccer playoffs at Don Owens Stadium in Lakeport.
With the 10-minute second overtime nearly complete and extra time about to expire, Ewing took a perfectly placed throw-in from Rodney Ramos and blasted the ball into the bottom far corner of the net to break a 3-3 tie and lift the No. 2-seeded Cardinals (12-7-4) into Wednesday’s semifinals against No. 3 Tomales. Game time is 7 p.m. in Lakeport.
Ewing, Clear Lake’s leading scorer this season, also scored the Cardinals’ first goal, which was set up on a pass from Bairo Carmona 16 minutes into the first half. Six minutes later it was Ewing assisting on a Carmona goal.
Clear Lake led 2-1 at halftime.
“Defensively we held Brave Christian to one goal in the first half, which was very gratifying since we worked hard in preparation for the top goal scorer in the North Coast Section,” Clear Lake head coach Anthony Duncan said.
Brave Christian (9-8-2) scored midway through the second half to pull even at 2, but Domnick Cervantes put the Cardinals in front 3-2 with another assist from Carmona.
With 17 minutes remaining in regulation, Brave Christian scored to even the match at 3-3.
The two teams battled through a scorless 10-minute first overtime, setting the stage for Ewing’s game-winning goal at the end of the second overtime.
“Everything we worked on in practice leading up to this game, the boys executed,” Duncan said. “Get the ball wide and spread out their defense, cut out touches in half and move the ball, and the wings must drop to defend the outside attacker so our back line can stay compact.”
Added Duncan, “The Cardinals are currently playing their best soccer of the year.”
Four Clear Lake players spent the entire 100 minutes on the pitch while a handful of others played 97-98 minutes, according to Duncan.
Not surprisingly, Duncan said Ewing was Clear Lake’s player of the game with Carmona, who never came off the field, close behind. Other standouts were Jorge Garcia, who also played the entire 100 minutes, and Cervantes. Garcia and Cervantes combined for 22 steals.
Clear Lake is trying to win its second section title in boys soccer. The first came in 1997.
