LAKE COUNTY — While seven of Lake County”s 10 varsity soccer teams have hung up their cleats for another season, three still have no expiration date — and would like to keep it that way as long as possible.
All three are girls” teams — North Central League I North co-champion Middletown (14-2-3), NCL I South runner-up Clear Lake (13-7-3) and NCL I North third-place finisher Kelseyville (6-9-0) — and two of them meet in the quarterfinal round Saturday as the 2008 North Coast Section Class A playoffs get under way.
Kelseyville, which secured one of the final at-large berths into the 10-team girls” field, earned the ninth seed and is home Wednesday to play No. 8 Rincon Valley Christian (9-6-1) in a first-round game. The winner advances to Saturday”s quarterfinals against No. 1 seed Sonoma Academy (17-2-0), the NCL II South winner.
For the second time in three seasons, Clear Lake and Middletown will meet in a quarterfinal-round game. That contest takes place Saturday at 7 p.m. in Middletown, the site of Clear Lake”s 4-2 victory back in 2006.
The two teams also met in the regular season this year, Middletown prevailing 2-0 at Lakeport.
Middletown is making its third straight playoff appearance and Clear Lake is back for a 14th straight season. Kelseyville”s last trip to the playoffs came in 2000.
“We had a good year and this is a good reward for our girls,” said Clear Lake coach Paul Larrea, who added that the seeding process on Sunday in Walnut Creek went exactly as expected.
“The three league champions in the field got the top three seeds, then Middletown and Clear Lake,” Larrea said. “We just wanted to be in the top six (seeds) so that we didn”t have to play until Saturday. That will give some of our players who are banged up a chance to get healthy. We should be at full strength.”
Larrea said he expects the second meeting this season between his Cardinals and Middletown to be every bit as hard fought as the first.
“They do a good job of getting (Kaitlin) Agapoff and (Brittany) Cash the ball in the right spots,” Larrea said of Middletown”s two forwards. “We need to play better defense and not let them get to those spots.
“Without a doubt they have the best goal keeper in the conference in Kelsey Welton and (Emily) Beckwith is an outstanding sweeper,” Larrea added. “But we”re not bad either. We present some problems that they”re going to have to deal with.”
Larrea said he doesn”t think the homefield advantage will be that much of an edge for the Mustangs.
“We played well there two years ago and we”re comfortable there,” he said.
Middletown coach Louise Owens said she really can”t draw any comparisons between the playoff meeting with Clear Lake two years ago and Saturday”s game because the personnel on both clubs have changed so much since then.
“I”m excited about the game and I know the girls are excited about it,” said Owens, whose Mustangs have reached the playoffs all three of her years as head coach. “This is one game our girls always get keyed up for because Clear Lake has always been the dominant team in the county and now we know we can play right with them.”
Middletown has beaten Clear Lake in the regular season two years in a row.
Owens said she doesn”t plan to change anything for Saturday”s game.
“Going into big games a lot of teams try to adjust things,” Owens said. “But we”ve played our game all season and haven”t changed a thing. I don”t see why we should now.”
The rest of the field has NCL I South champion St. Vincent (15-1-1) at No. 2, NCL I North co-champ Fort Bragg (18-4-2) at No. 3, NCL I South runner-up St. Helena (7-7-3) at No. 6, NCL II South runner-up Roseland Prep (12-4-0) at No. 7, and NCL II North runner-up Potter Valley (8-6-2) at No. 10.
Roseland Prep plays Potter Valley in the other first-round game on Wednesday.
Following Saturday”s quarterfinal round, semifinal games are scheduled for Wednesday, Nov. 12. The Class A championship game is Saturday, Nov. 15.
