FORESTVILLE — Rosie Emerson scored twice and Hannah Diaz and Kaleigh Alves added goals as the Middletown Mustangs opened a new girls” soccer season with a 4-2 non-league win over the El Molino Lions on Tuesday in Forestville.
Freshman Caitlin Lemoine had two assists for the Mustangs (1-0) in her first varsity game and Madison Ketchum, another freshman, had one.
“They both had good games,” Middletown coach Louise Owens said of the high school debut of Lemoine and Ketchum.
Middletown led 2-0 at the intermission on first-half goals by Diaz, unassisted in the fifth minute, and Emerson, assisted by both Ketchum and Lemoine, later in the half.
The Mustangs pushed their lead to 3-0 in the 50th minute when Alves scored with an assist from Diaz. After El Molino closed to 3-1, Emerson scored in the 73rd minute with an assist from Lemoine.
A mistake on defense by the Mustangs allowed El Molino to score moments later, according to Owens, who said her squad was up and down in its first effort of 2013.
“There are a lot of positives, but there also a lot of things we need to work on,” Owens said.
El Molino dictated the pace of the game in the second half and controlled the ball more than Middletown.
“They had possession of the ball the majority of the time,” she said. “We made some adjustments in the second half but we didn”t do as well as I would have liked.”
The Mustangs stay on the road Thursday to play Sonoma Academy, the team they beat in last year”s North Coast Section Division III championship game. Sophomore Ashley Welton, a key component in Middletown”s 21-0-1 season in 2012, won”t be available for that game after getting kicked in the ankle and in the back of the calf while playing defense against El Molino. It”s a precautionary move, according to Owens.
