LAKEPORT — St. Vincent scored in the final 30 seconds to beat the Clear Lake Cardinals 1-0 in a North Central League I South varsity girls” soccer game on Thursday in Lakeport.
Rain fell throughout the game, which remained scoreless until a St. Vincent player banged a hard shot off diving Clear Lake keeper Candy Diener. The deflected ball landed in front of a group of players from both teams near the net.
“I don”t even know which one of their girls scored, someone got a foot on the ball and knocked it in,” Clear Lake co-coach Paul Larrea said.
St. Vincent, undefeated in the NCL I South standings, could end up facing Clear Lake in a couple of weeks when the North Coast Section Class A playoffs get under way.
“If we win our next two (South games) we”ll finish in second place and get into the playoffs,” Larrea said. “Of course, that”s easier said than done.”
St. Vincent improved to 6-0 while Clear Lake fell to 3-2-1.
The Cardinals lost two starters to injuries before the game even started. Anisa Green (knee) and Megan McDonald (back) didn”t play, forcing the Cardinals to move players around.
“Elena Tipton and Ashley Tipton did an extraordinary job filling in,” Larrea said.
“Both teams were playing good soccer and going after each other in the rain,” Larrea said. “It was a hard-fought game.”
Larrea credited Diener with an outstanding performance.
“She did a great job, she was incredible,” Larrea said.
In other girls” soccer action Thursday:
Willits 3, Upper Lake 0
At Willits, the Upper Lake Cougars had a hard time navigating in the rain and mud and were shut out by the Willits Wolverines in NCL I interlock action.
“It was raining pretty hard up here and the field was all mud,” Upper Lake coach Anna Santana said. “The girls were slipping and sliding all over the place.”
Standouts for the Cougars on defense were keeper Maria Mendoza and defenders Krista Collins, Laura Wold and Courtney Havrilla, according to Santana.
“We still don”t have everyone back on offense,” Santana said. “Right now Taryn (Re) is shouldering the burden for our offense and the other teams know.”
K”ville 5, Lower Lake 0
At Lower Lake, after Monique Santana and Samantha Ledesma scored in the first half to give Kelseyville a 2-0 lead, Eline Beck moved from defense to offense in the second half and scored three times as the Knights improved to 3-3-1 in the NCL I North standings.
Megan Andre had two assists for Kelseyville.
Geneve Rupert turned in a strong effort on defense, according to coach Mark Andre.
Volleyball
Lower Lake def. Willits in three games
At Willits, the Lower Lake Trojans finally found someone that serves worse than they do, the Willits Wolverines.
“It made me feel better,” Lower Lake coach Danessa Udy said of the revelation that the Trojans aren”t the only ones struggling at the service line this season.
“We had only 12 service mistakes this times, which is better than we”ve been doing,” Udy said of the Trojans” 25-22, 25-18, 25-22 victory over the Wolverines.
But forget about putting the game film of this match in the time capsule, according to Udy. “It was pretty ugly,” she said.
There weren”t many kill opportunities for the Trojans, who benefited from several serves into the net by the Wolverines.
Renita Gilliam led Lower Lake with five kills and three blocks. Darlena White added a team-high six aces as Lower Lake improved to 2-1 in the NCL I North standings.
Clear Lake def. Upper Lake in four games
At Upper Lake, Jesse Sondag had 18 kills as the Clear Lake Cardinals beat the Upper Lake Cougars 25-22, 22-25, 25-21, 25-17 in NCL I South action. It was the first time Clear Lake head coach Marci Psalmonds, who was Upper Lake”s head coach for several seasons, faced her old team.
Kirsten Wascom had six kills, five blocks and 13 service points for the Cardinals.
“She”s really stepping it up as a senior,” Psalmonds said of Wascom.
Katie Reynolds added 17 points and Sunny McFall had nine.
Leading Upper Lake were Hannah Johnson with 12 kills and eight digs and Samantha Bullard with 19 assists.
“We made too many mistakes,” Upper Lake coach Sandy Coatney said.
Boys” soccer
Kelseyville 0, Lower Lake 0 (tie)
At Lower Lake, both teams had plenty of chances but neither could score as the Kelseyville Knights and Lower Lake Trojans battled to a scoreless tie in NCL I North play.
Among the Lower Lake standouts on defense were Jose Garcia and Miguel Martinez.
Lower Lake is 1-4-1 in the North standings and Kelseyville is 4-2-1.
St. Vincent 4, Clear Lake 0
At Petaluma, Clear Lake”s Armando Martinez drew plenty of attention from the St. Vincent defense as the St. Vincent Mustangs, fighting for a playoff berth in the upcoming North Coast Section Class A tournament, shut out the visiting Clear Lake Cardinals in NCL I South action.
The last time these two teams met, on Oct. 2 in Lakeport, Martinez scored twice as the Cardinals upset the Mustangs 3-2.
“He must have been fouled six or seven times but they (officials) gave out only one yellow card,” Clear Lake coach Brian Figg said of Martinez. “They were all over him.”
Martinez managed to hold his own against the onslaught of St. Vincent defenders, but he didn”t get much help from his teammates.
“Armando played a phenomenal game but came away with nothing to show for it,” Figg said. “We just got caught standing around too much.”
Clear Lake drops to 2-4 in the NCL I South standings with two games remaining.
Upper Lake 2, Willits 2 (tie)
At Willits, Upper Lake”s Javier Cruz scored both of Upper Lake”s goals, the 98th and 99th of his career, as the Cougars tied the Willits Wolverines in NCL I interlock action.
Upper Lake trailed 1-0 after the first half.
Cougars keeper Luis Santana stopped 19 shots, including a penalty kick.
