MIDDLETOWN — Hannah Diaz scored four times and Paula Negrete picked up the first goal of her high school career on Thursday as the Middletown Mustangs shut out the Clear Lake Cardinals 5-0 in North Central League I varsity girls” soccer action at Middletown.
Coming off a 4-2 loss at Cloverdale on Tuesday, the Mustangs (5-1 league, 8-2 overall) responded with their best effort of the season, according to coach Louise Owens.
“Cloverdale really exposed some of our weaknesses,” Owens said. “We had a great, great practice yesterday (Wednesday). Today the girls responded to what we needed to fix.”
Goals by Diaz and the freshman Negrete in the first half staked the Mustangs to a 2-0 halftime lead. Diaz added three more goals in the second half as Middletown moved into sole possession of second place in the league standings, one game behind Cloverdale and one game ahead of Clear Lake (4-2, 6-4).
Defensive standouts for the Mustangs were keeper Jessie Flynn, who stopped 15 shots, as well as Danni Rossi and Caitlin Lemoine, according to Owens.
Rosie Emerson assisted on two of Middletown”s goals.
In other girls” soccer action Thursday:
Kelseyville 7, Lower Lake 0
At Kelseyville, Elisa Borg scored twice and five other Kelseyville players had one goal apiece as the Kelseyville Knights logged their first win of the season by shutting out the Lower Lake Trojans.
Amanda Walsh, Cristina Covarubias, Tori Wayment, Megan Touros and Jackie Baqleh also scored for the Knights, now 1-5 in league and 1-5 overall.
“It felt good, definitely,” Kelseyville coach Dave Wold said of his team”s initial taste of success in 2013. “We”re coming along.”
Defensive standouts for the Knights were right-marking back Crystal Ruiz and keepers Miranda Logan and Julia Brown, according to Wold.
Boys” soccer
Kelseyville 2, Lower Lake 1
At Kelseyville, Luis Rodriguez scored on a penalty kick in overage time to beat the Lower Lake Trojans 2-1 in a physical NCL I boys” soccer game.
Rodriguez left the game in the first half with a groin pull but returned in the second half to lead the Knights (4-1-1, 5-3-1) to victory.
“We needed him,” Kelseyville coach Eduardo Ledesma said. “He saved us.”
Kelseyville jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first half on a free kick by Elias Alvarez. Lower Lake pulled even late in the first half on a header by Ruben Orozco off a pass from Ricardo Manriquez.
“It was a good battle,” Lower Lake coach Dan Griffin said. “We were playing aggressive and we were very physical, which we like to be. But we were called for things we haven”t been called for all season.”
The Trojans lost Manriquez to a red card late in the game and received a handful of yellow cards throughout the game.
“They were handing out yellow cards left and right, most of them to us,” Griffin said.
“It was really rough,” Ledesma said.
Standouts for the Knights included Brian Alvarez, Cristian Macias, Eduardo Castellanos, Ricardo Covarubias and Enrique Cacho, according to Ledesma.
“They all did a great job,” he said.
Middletown 5, Clear Lake 2
At Middletown, Middletown has back-to-back league wins after knocking off the Clear Lake Cardinals.
“I haven”t seen the kids smile like this in a while,” Middletown coach Chuck Rannells said.
Winless in league until this week, the Mustangs (2-4, 4-6) beat Cloverdale 3-1 on Tuesday before defeating Clear Lake two days later. Brandon Rannells led the way, scoring all three of his goals in the first half to give Middletown a 3-0 halftime lead.
Jesus Garcia added two more goals in the second half, both assisted by Jorge Morales.
Clear Lake, now 0-6 in league and 0-8 overall, received goals from Juan Mendoza and Alejandro Cruz.
“They”re going through some growing pains, but they”ve got some quick guys,” Rannells said of the Cardinals, who didn”t field a team last year. “They just need to keep their heads up.”
“We”re still working on it,” Clear Lake co-coach Tony Paskaly said. “We”ll get there.”
Keeper Agustin Cruz and Giovanni Sanchez were standouts for the Cardinals, according to Paskaly.
Volleyball
Clear Lake def. Willits
At Willits, the Clear Lake Cardinals improved to 2-0 in the NCL I standings with a 25-13, 25-11, 25-8 victory over the Willits Wolverines, who dropped to 0-2.
“They”re rebuilding with a new coach,” Clear Lake coach Marci Psalmonds said of the Wolverines.
Aliza Atkins had seven kills and a block for the Cardinals while Rachel Wingler added five kills, a block and three aces. Setter Emily Psalmonds logged 13 assists.
Clear Lake also won the junior varsity match 25-17, 25-13 behind 13 service points from Jasmine Rice, four kills from Courtney Hiatt and three kills from Terra Morin.
Upper Lake def. Tomales
At Upper Lake, Sierra Fugate and Joleca Augustine each had eight kills and Skylar Orozco added six more as the Upper Lake Cougars evened their NCL II record at 1-1 with a 25-20, 25-10, 25-6 win over the Tomales Braves.
Augustine and Orozco also had a pair of aces for Upper Lake.
“They looked better and played together,” Upper Lake coach Raelene Cromwell said. “We played like a team. It was really nice to see them get it going.”
Upper Lake won the JV match 25-11, 25-9 behind nine aces and four kills from Isabel Rorabaugh, six aces from Natalie Karlsson and three kills and two aces from Jessica Hickey.
Middletown def. Fort Bragg
At Fort Bragg, the Middletown Mustangs improved to 2-0 in the NCL I standings with a 25-22, 25-15, 25-17 victory over the Fort Bragg Timberwolves.
Brianna Ortiz served up nine aces to go along with five kills and eight digs for the Mustangs. Renee Edwards also had a big match with eight kills, six blocks, four aces and two digs. Heather Huston added five kills, four digs and three aces.
“It was a good match,” Middletown coach Jennifer Breiner said.
Middletown”s JVs won 25-14, 18-25, 15-13.
St. Helena def. Lower Lake
At St. Helena, minus their starting setter, the Lower Lake Trojans struggled mightily in the first game before falling 25-4, 25-16, 25-22 to the St. Helena Saints.
“They have some amazing hitters,” Lower Lake coach Niki Doud said of the Saints, who improved to 2-0 in league play while the Trojans fell to 0-2. “And we couldn”t pass.”
Zobee Miller”s seven kills led Lower Lake.
St. Helena also won the JV match 25-16, 25-19.
Lower Lake shoots for its first league win on Tuesday at home against Clear Lake.
