MIDDLETOWN — It wasn”t a win, but the Middletown Mustangs and coach Chuck Rannells will certainly take the 4-4 tie they earned Tuesday against the St. Helena Saints in a North Central League I varsity boys” soccer game at Middletown.
It was the first time in 13 games this season that the Mustangs (0-9-1 league, 0-12-1 overall) haven”t lost.
“It was really good to see us play some soccer like that,” Rannells said. “We had a lot of support from our girls” team, which was playing after us.”
Eric Lopez had a hat track for the Mustangs, scoring each of their first three goals, and Brandon Rannells” goal made it 4-3 in Middletown”s favor. St. Helena tied it with about eight minutes remaining.
Middletown never trailed after opening up a 2-0 lead in the first half.
“I”m very proud of the way my boys played, but I”m disappointed because each lead we had (2-0, 3-2 and 4-3) we gave away,” Rannells said.
Nick Santos, Kyler Baldwin and Brandon Rannells each had an assist for Middletown.
In other boys” soccer action Tuesday:
Fort Bragg 3, Kelseyville 0
At Kelseyville, the Fort Bragg Timberwolves shut out the Kelseyville Knights in NCL I action.
Fort Bragg is battling Willits for the league title and the Timberwolves didn”t allow Kelseyville (4-6, 5-8) many shots on goal.
“We had some shots, just not close enough,” Kelseyville coach Eduardo Ledesma said.
Fort Bragg led 2-0 at the half.
Standout performers for Kelseyville were Enrique Cacho in the midfield and Adrian Rodriguez on defense, according to Ledesma.
Girls” soccer
Clear Lake 8, Lower Lake 1
At Lakeport, Emily Hayes and Kristy Hayes scored two goals apiece and Nadine Bradley added a goal and two assists as the Clear Lake Cardinals dominated the Lower Lake Trojans in NCL I girls” soccer action.
“We”re kind of having to re-invent ourselves since we lost Kelcie (Reynolds),” Clear Lake coach Paul Larrea said of his injured center-midfielder. “We”ve moved some people around and we generated 37 shots and played very good defense.”
The Cardinals (7-4, 12-8-1) received a boost with the return of Madison Wynacht to the starting lineup. She scored a goal in her first game back from an injury.
“That was a nice plus,” Larrea said.
Micaela Murray scored for the Trojans and Jennifer Tena had the assist.
Volleyball
Middletown def. Willits
At Middletown, Bri Ortiz had her serve back online and the Middletown Mustangs kept pace with Clear Lake atop the NCL I standings with a 25-11, 18-25, 25-21, 25-18 victory over Willits.
Middletown improved to 8-1 in the league standings behind a team-best 10 aces from Ortiz, who also had seven kills.
“They looked good, I just wish they had been a little faster on their feet,” Middletown coach Jennifer Breiner said. “Our passing game was really strong.”
Renee Edwards led the Mustangs with nine kills, one ace and one block. Aly Mino added eight kills and Nika Gibbs had four aces and two kills.
Clear Lake def. Cloverdale
At Lakeport, Clear Lake rallied from a 21-14 deficit in game four to beat the Cloverdale Eagles 27-25, 20-25, 25-14, 25-23 in NCL I action.
Clear Lake (8-1) is tied with Middletown atop the league standings with five matches remaining for both teams.
“We were lucky to come away with a win,” Clear Lake coach Marci Psalmonds said. “Our passing was horrendous … we had 37 errors. That made it real hard for Morgan (Psalmonds, the team”s setter) to get the ball up (for the hitters).”
Psalmonds” setting and freshman Rachel Wingler”s play at the net helped the Cardinals overcome their passing woes, according to Psalmonds.
Alyssa Atkins led the Cardinals with 11 kills and also had three blocks. Anna Westin finished with eight kills and four blocks while Wingler had two kills and a team-best five blocks. Marsrha”na Sugimoto contributed six kills, the last one coming on match point.
Cloverdale won the junior varsity match 25-19, 25-8 despite five kills and four blocks by Clear Lake”s Joleca Augustine.
Upper Lake def. St. Vincent
At Upper Lake, the Upper Lake Cougars improved to 4-3 in the NCL II standings with a 25-18, 26-24, 26-24 victory over the St. Vincent Mustangs. Sierra Fugate led the way with 10 kills and LaShaye Taylor and Vanessa Hanson each had six.
“All the girls did a fantastic job at the line,” Upper Lake coach Sandy Coatney said. “We had only two service errors all night.”
Fort Bragg def. Lower Lake
At Fort Bragg, Fort Bragg won the final two games to beat Lower Lake 19-25, 27-25, 15-25, 25-16, 15-5 in NCL I action.
It was the first league win for the Timberwolves (1-8). Lower Lake fell to 2-7.
“We need to learn how to finish a game,” Lower Lake coach Niki Doud said.
The Trojans were without starting middle hitter Adrina Miller, who hasn”t been at school the past two days, according to Doud.
Amanda Graf stepped into the middle and played well with five kills, according to Doud. Michelle Page led the Trojans with six kills and Camry Richardson turned in a strong effort from the service line, scoring 19 points.
