LAKEPORT — Whether she”s playing at the junior varsity or varsity level for the Clear Lake Cardinals this season, sophomore forward Kristy Hayes has a nose for the goal.
Hayes scored with 2:51 left in the game Wednesday night to lift Clear Lake to a 2-1 victory over the Fort Bragg Timberwolves in the opening round of the North Coast Section Division III girls” soccer playoffs at Don Owens Stadium in Lakeport.
Next up for the sixth-seeded Cardinals (12-11-2) is a quarterfinal-round meeting Saturday at 7 p.m. against the No. 3-seeded Middletown Mustangs (16-1-1) in Middletown.
“All three of my sophomores played well tonight,” Clear Lake coach Paul Larrea said of Hayes, Nadine Bradley and Emily Norwood.
Hayes and Norwood each were credited with assists late in the first half when a Telia Paskaly goal knotted the score at 1-1.
While Clear Lake”s defense dominated the Timberwolves, allowing just two shots on goal all night, Fort Bragg put one of those shots into the net early in the first half for a 1-0 lead that stood up until Paskaly connected.
“We dominated and had a ton of shots,” Larrea said of the second meeting this season between the two teams. “We were on their end of the field a lot and out-shot them 24-2.”
Several of Clear Lake”s shots were near misses, clanking off the crossbar of the goal frame.
“The crossbar had a great game,” Larrea joked.
One Cardinal who turned up her game a notch or two was senior wing Jessica Salmeron, according to Larrea.
“She was lights out,” Larrea said. “That was probably her best game of the season.”
Larrea also was pleased with the overall team effort.
“We really did a nice job pulling it together,” he said.
Clear Lake beat the Timberwolves 6-0 on Sept. 14 in Lakeport.
“They were a much different team tonight,” Larrea said.
