LAKEPORT — Armando Martinez is back and if coach Brian Figg has anything to say about it, so are the Clear Lake Cardinals.
Martinez scored two goals, the final one with four minutes remaining, to lift the Cardinals to a 3-2 upset victory over the St. Vincent Mustangs in a North Central League I South varsity boys” soccer game on Tuesday in Lakeport.
“We suited up the most players (17) we”ve suited up all season,” Figg said of the Cardinals, who have been plagued by injuries and illness most of the season.
Martinez, the team”s leading scorer a year ago, scored his first goal on a penalty kick with five minutes remaining in the first half to give the Cardinals (1-1 South, 3-6 overall) a 2-0 lead. Matt “Scotty” Stegman scored earlier in the half to give Clear Lake the lead.
St. Vincent scored the first two goals of the second half to pull into a 2-2 tie.
“It was pure heart, determination on his part,” Figg said of Martinez” game-winning goal, a shot that found its way between a St. Vincent defender and the Mustangs” goalie. “He outran a defender for a free ball, charged toward the goal and the keeper came out and tried to stop him.”
Stegman and Robert Anderson had assists for the Cardinals, who were at full strength for the first time this season, according to Figg.
“It”s anyone”s league,” Figg said of the NCL I South.
In other action Tuesday:
Kelseyville 3, Lower Lake 0
At Kelseyville, Andres Macias scored twice and Maurilio Gomora added another goal as the Kelseyville Knights improved to 2-1 in the NCL I North standings with a win over the Lower Lake Trojans.
With Lower Lake moving players back on defense to protect its goal, the Knights moved players forward and kept the ball on the Trojans” side of the field most of the game.
“I moved some of defenders forward,” Kelseyville coach Eduardo Ledesma said. “If you”re not going to attack, I”m going to bring my defenders up. It worked.”
Kelseyville led 2-0 after one half. After Macias scored his first goal, Gomora punched one through to make it 2-0.
Lower Lake missed a penalty kick in the second half, its best scoring opportunity of the game.
Kelseyville is 5-3 overall. Lower Lake is 0-2 in the North standings and 3-5-1 overall.
Girls” soccer
Fort Bragg 2, Middletown 0
At Fort Bragg, the Middletown Mustangs generated little offense and were shut out by the Fort Bragg Timberwolves in NCL I North action.
Still missing Teina Moore because of injury, the Mustangs (1-1, 4-4-1) also were without star forward Kayla Welton, who sustained an ankle sprain in Middletown”s last game.
“We didn”t have a lot of attacks,” Middletown coach Louise Owens said. “Kayla is a major part of our offense.”
The game was scoreless for 26 minutes before Fort Bragg punched in its first goal. The Timberwolves scored early in the second half to go up 2-0.
“Fort Bragg did a good job of finding our weaknesses,” Owens said.
Standouts for the Mustangs were keeper Kelsey Welton, who had 19 saves, one of them on a penalty kick, and midfielders Amber Begley and Natalie Diaz.
“They worked their butts off,” Owens said of Begley and Diaz.
St. Vincent 1, Clear Lake 0
At Petaluma, the St. Vincent Mustangs scored 20 minutes into the second half to beat the Clear Lake Cardinals in NCL I South action.
“It was a really well-played match,” Clear Lake coach Paul Larrea said.
St. Vincent”s lone goal came off a corner kick.
“That was our only mistake,” Larrea said. “Both defenses played very well.”
Clear Lake nearly broke through on a header by Kaila Sterbank, but the shot deflected off the crossbar.
“And we had some other shots that went wide,” Larrea said.
Keeper Candy Diener turned in a strong effort for Clear Lake (0-1-1, 5-3-4), according to Larrea.
Kelseyville 10, Lower Lake 0
At Kelseyville, Amanda Horne, Sam Mattern and Allyson Brown scored two goals apiece as the Kelseyville Knights squared their NCL I North record at 1-1-1 with a shutout victory over the Lower Lake Trojans.
Kelseyville coach Mark Andre emptied his bench early in this one as the Knights had a 5-0 lead after the first half.
“That”s what these games are for, to learn,” Andre said. “Everyone got to play and I”m hoping everyone learned a lot.”
Volleyball
Kelseyville def. Upper Lake in three
At Kelseyville, after losing to Upper Lake in the Clear Lake Tournament last month in Lakeport, the Kelseyville Knights made quick of the Cougars with a three-game victory in NCL I interlock action.
So what made the difference for the Knights this time?
“I don”t know,” Kelseyville coach Deanna Goff said. “When we played them before, not many balls hit the ground. Tonight they (Cougars) let a lot of balls hit the floor. It was weird.”
Standouts for Kelseyville included Kaitlyn Goff with a team-best 10 kills and three aces, Casey Bowlin with 11 digs and six kills, and Kristina Swenston with 16 assists.
The Knights also received a huge boost off the bench from Morgan Sedrick, who had a good night passing the ball, according to her coach.
“She stepped in and did an awesome job,” Goff said.
Clear Lake def. Middletown in five
At Lakeport, Clear Lake rallied to beat Middletown 23-25, 25-21, 15-25, 25-16, 15-12 in NCL I interlock play.
“They”ve got some holes and we took advantage,” Clear Lake coach Marci Psalmonds said of the Cardinals” ability to exploit weaknesses in the Middletown defense. “The girls placed the ball real well.”
Switching to a 4-2 alignment, the Cardinals avenged a three-game loss at Middletown last month.
Standouts for Clear Lake were freshman Jesse Sondag with 18 kills, eight points and four digs; Claire Mansell with 18 points, five aces, 17 assists and two kills; Kirsten Wascom with eight kills, five blocks and 10 points; Danielle Howard with seven kills; and Tiffany Tyrrell with eight points.
“She had some crunch-time points,” Psalmonds said of Tyrrell”s serving.
Kayla Wood had 12 kills, three blocks and nine aces for Middletown. Jessica Boylan added six kills and five aces.
