MIDDLETOWN — Dustin Rudiger stopped 17 out of 18 shots, including a penalty kick in the second half, and the Middletown Mustangs held off the Upper Lake Cougars 2-1 in non-league varsity boys” soccer action on Thursday in Middletown.
“It was awesome,” Middletown coach Chuck Rannells said of Rudiger smothering a penalty kick that could have knotted the score.
Rannells, Middle-town”s first-year coach, notched his first career victory thanks to goals by Cody Astley and Rafael Roy-Labelle that gave the Mustangs a 2-0 halftime lead. Jesus Garcia assisted on both scores.
Upper Lake (0-1) finally got onto the scoreboard when Angel Hernandez scored midway through the second half. The Cougars kept the pressure on the rest of the way, attempting several shots, but Rudiger was up to the challenge.
“The intensity level of Upper Lake, they never quit,” Rannells said. “I was really proud of how my guys handled it (the pressure).”
Middletown”s ball movement was much more crisp than in a 5-0 season-opening loss to Hannah Boys Center on Tuesday, according to Rannells.
“We played much better this time,” Rannells said.
Standouts for the Mus-tangs were Garcia and defender Brian Rannells.
“But it was an entire team effort,” Chuck Rannells said.
Jose Ruiz assisted on Upper Lake”s lone goal.
Middletown is 1-1 on the season and plays against Tuesday at home against Hannah Boys Center.
