MIDDLETOWN — The Mid-dletown Mustangs want everyone to know their entire team is back and healthy. They passed along that message Saturday night to the St. Helena Saints with a 3-1 victory in the quarterfinal round of the North Coast Section Division III girls” soccer playoffs at Middletown High School.
The third-seeded Mustangs (17-1), winners of the North Central League I North, advance to the semifinals to play No. 2 seed St. Vincent (15-1), winner of the NCL I South, Wednesday at Rancho Cotate High School in Rohnert Park. Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m. No. 12 seed Clear Lake (11-10-3) plays No. 1 seed Sonoma Academy (17-2) in the other semifinal Wednesday at 5 p.m. at Santa Rosa High School (see story, this page).
The Mustangs have reached the semifinals twice before under head coach Louise Owens and are still looking for their first trip to the championship game, which is next Saturday.
“Before the season started I had no idea we”d be here,” Owens said. “After double-days I knew this team had it in them (to make the playoffs).”
And it showed as soon as Middletown stepped onto the field with the ease and confidence of a championship-caliber team.
Since the third game of the season, Middletown has been without one key player or another either because of injuries or illness, a run of bad luck that didn”t end until Saturday, when junior midfielder Natalie Diaz returned to the Mustang lineup.
“She was a big morale booster,” Owens said of Diaz, who also gives the Mustangs a boost on the field when healthy. “She”s got the combination of good tempo and speed, plus a terrific delivery,” Owens said.
Diaz combined with Brittany Cash to all but cut down the through balls and what did leak through the Middletown midfield was promptly cleaned up by an equally tough Mustang backfield.
Cash contributed to the Mustangs” night by granting forward Taylor Sloan one of her birthday wishes, a perfect set-up pass that led to a Sloan goal. Cash literally danced her way around a trio of St. Helena players as she raced down the sideline only to battle her way around the Saints” final line of defense in sophomore defender Adriana DeHaro. She made a perfect pass in front of the goal where Sloan, in the 63rd minute, kicked it past keeper Logan Santillano”s outstretched arms. The 16th birthday gift for Sloan put the game away as the Mustangs went up 3-1.
Cash also scored a goal in the 51st minute when she crossed from the wing to center field and charged up to the front of the Saints” goal with two defenders in tow, firing off a blazing shot that blew by Santillano and into the net, snapping a 1-1 tie and putting Middletown ahead for good at 2-1.
“We knew we had to step it up if we were going to win,” Cash said. “We just got more aggressive and went to the goal.”
The Saints brought the St. Helena fans to their feet early in the match when Itzel DeSantiago caught the Middletown defense off guard as she battled her way to within 20 yards of the net, where she launched a shot into the near corner of the Middletown goal for an early St. Helena 1-0 lead.
“Milton (Gallegos) is a real smart coach,” Owens said of her St. Helena counterpart, who she faced twice earlier this season and thought she had a pretty good read on … that is until Gallegos and the Saints mixed things up in their third meeting of the season.
“This was a different team we played (Sat-urday) than we watched. We adjusted and they (the Saints) made it a great match,” Owens said.
St. Helena challenged Middletown early in the match when DeSantiago drove past the Mustang defenders and sent a pass to the front of the net, where forward Marina Spadarotto tapped the ball for what appeared to be a sure goal. However, Middletown keeper Ashley Lescher”s last-ditch dive stopped the ball dead in its tracks.
Middletown mid-fielder Missy Denno, a junior, tied the score at 1-1 in the 28th minute, breaking loose at the midfield and taking the ball straight up the middle of the pitch. She sent a rocket of a shot flying past the outstretched arms of Santillano and into the back of the net.
