MIDDLETOWN — Even on a day when their offense wasn”t as crisp as usual, the Middletown Mustangs overwhelmed the Willits Wolverines 8-1 in North Central League I varsity girls” soccer action at Middletown.
Middletown improved to 2-0 in league play and remains undefeated on the season at 7-0.
“We started pretty slow and I didn”t see the finishing intensity I wanted to see,” Middletown head coach Lee Hoage said. “It”s not the movement I wanted to see off the ball and we were making one too many passes. We were just flat at times.”
Middletown tallied four goals in each half. Hannah Diaz scored twice and the team received single goals from Kelly Wilkinson, Ashlyn Welton, Rosie Emerson, Emily Reed and Kaleigh Alves. The Mustangs also benefited from an own goal.
Willits” lone goal came in the first half.
While the Middletown offense wasn”t firing on all cylinders, the defense turned in another strong effort, according to Hoage.
“The defense didn”t make many mistakes back there,” Hoage said. “It”s a pretty strong group.”
Middletown received solid play off the bench from Alves, Emerson and Taylor Montelli, according to Hoage.
In other girls” soccer action Thursday:
Cloverdale 4, Clear Lake 0
At Cloverdale, Cloverdale had Clear Lake back on its heels most of the game and went on to shut out the Cardinals in NCL I play, the second time the Eagles have blanked Clear Lake this season.
“They out-shot us 14-5 and that doesn”t happen very often,” Clear Lake coach Paul Larrea said.
Cloverdale led 3-0 after the first half.
“We played better in the second half,” Larrea said. “We just have to find a way to score.”
Kelcie Reynolds and Rory Ottolini anchored a Clear Lake defense that was under constant pressure, according to Larrea.
Clear Lake is 1-1 in league and 5-5-1 overall.
St. Helena 5, Kelseyville 1
At St. Helena, Megan Touros” first-half goal was all the offense the Kelseyville Knights could muster in a league loss to the St. Helena Saints.
Kelseyville (0-1-1, 2-1-1) trailed 2-1 after the first half.
“Our defense really did a good job,” Kelseyville coach Cheryl Mostin said.
The Knights had to switch keepers mid-game, Karina Perez replacing Shana Cossey.
“She (Perez) did a good job for us,” Mostin said.
Boys” soccer
Kelseyville 2, St. Helena 1
At St. Helena, freshman Elias Alvarez scored what proved to be the winning goal on a breakaway midway through the second half as the Kelseyville Knights held on to beat the St. Helena Saints in NCL I action.
“That is the first time we”ve beaten them since I”ve been the coach,” said a happy Eduardo Ledesma, now in his eighth season with the Knights.
St. Helena closed to 2-1 with 10 minutes to play and had a handful of chances to pull even in the closing minutes, but the Kelseyville defense, led by Omar Rodriguez, Frankie White and Adrian Rodriguez, was up to the task.
“Those three all did a good job,” Ledesma said.
The only goal of the first half came off the foot of Kelseyville”s Giovanni Ruiz, who corralled a rebound by a teammate and knocked it back into the net.
Willits 3, Middletown 2
At Willits, the Middletown Mustangs nearly picked up their first win of the season at Willits” expense, rallying to tie the Wolverines 2-2 before falling in the NCL I boys” contest.
Willits scored with about 12 minutes to go to snap the tie.
Brandon Rannells” header off an Eric Lopez assist pulled Middletown even at 2 midway through the second half.
“It was a great header,” Middletown coach Chuck Rannells aid.
Each team scored a goal in the first half. Middletown (0-2, 0-4) took a 1-0 lead five minutes into the game on a Lopez shot five minutes into the game.
“To come up here and play this way on the road, I”m proud of the kids,” Rannells said. “It”s almost like a moral victory. The players were pumped up and the morale is building. Hopefully we can build off it.”
Volleyball
Clear Lake def. Upper Lake
At Lakeport, making the most of its balanced hitting attack up front, the Clear Lake Cardinals beat the Upper Lake Cougars 25-13, 25-17, 25-16 in non-league action.
“I”ve always had one or two go-to girls, but not this year,” Clear Lake Marci Psalmonds said of the abundance of front-row hitters on the Cardinals” roster. “Teams don”t know who to look for.”
Freshman Rachel Wingler led the Cardinals with four blocks and also had a block. Haley Garzoli, Anna Westin, Alyssa Jack and Aliza Atkins added three kills apiece. Setter Morgan Psalmonds racked up 15 assists.
“It”s nice because we have so many options,” Psalmonds said.
Ashley Lovrin”s seven kills paced Upper Lake and Samantha Maddock had six. LaShaye Taylor added three kills and three aces.
Clear Lake also won the junior varsity match 25-20, 25-18. Anessa Jack and Emily Psalmonds combined to score 19 points from the service line in game two.
