MIDDLETOWN — Asked to describe forward Kaleigh Alves, who rallied Middletown to a crucial 3-2 victory over the Cloverdale Eagles on Thursday afternoon in Middletown, Mustangs coach Louise Owens didn”t hesitate for a second.
“She”s the Energizer bunny,” Owens said. “She”s so athletic and she never quits. Cloverdale was swarming her and she was getting through three people. She never gives up.”
Alves, held scoreless in the first half along with her Middletown teammates, scored all three of the Mustangs” goals in the second half, two within a span of two three minutes, to keep Middletown”s North Central League I title hopes alive going into the final week of the regular season.
Middletown (11-1, 14-2) also avenged its only league loss in the process, getting a little bit of payback for a 4-2 setback on Sept. 24 in Cloverdale.
The ramifications of the win are huge for the Mustangs, who needed nothing less than a victory against the Eagles to keep alive their hopes of winning a sixth straight league championship. If Middletown and Cloverdale (11-1) both win their final two games next week, the same two teams will meet in a one-game playoff at Cloverdale to decide who gets the higher seed for the upcoming North Coast Section playoffs, where they very well could meet again as the likely Nos. 2-3 seeds.
However, the Mustangs still have a big hurdle to clear Tuesday when they travel to Lakeport to play the Clear Lake Cardinals (9-3, 12-6), who would like nothing better than to spoil Middletown”s party.
“We can”t back off right now,” Owens said.
Cloverdale scored in the 26th and 33rd minutes of the first half to open up a 2-0 cushion.
“I didn”t have a lot to tell them at halftime,” Owens said of her players. “We were playing hard and the two goals they did score they earned. I did change our formation a bit to adapt to the way they were playing us.”
Two key players — Hannah Diaz (ankle) and Ashley Hart (shoulder) — were questionable for the game, or at least Owens thought they were questionable.
“They didn”t give me the choice. They were not going to not play,” Owens said. “I think Ashley was close to 100 percent. I don”t think Hannah was.”
A hard shot by Diaz in the 55th minute ricocheted back to Alves, who punched the ball into the net to make it a 2-1 game. Three minutes later Alves struck again, this time heading in a corner kick from Hart and tying the score.
“After we got that second goal, you could see the spark in the girls,” Owens said.
It remained 2-2 until the 71st minute when Alves took a through ball from Diaz and kicked it past the Cloverdale keeper for what turned out to be the game-winning shot.
Neither team threatened in the final nine minutes, according to Owens, who dropped the ultra-quick Diaz back onto defense where she teamed up with the likes of Karina Vargas and Ashlyn Welton to deny the Eagles at every turn.
“Karina and Ashlyn did a phenomenal job on defense. They were determined not to let anything get through,” Owens said.
Calling it one of the more exciting victories in her coaching career, Owens said the win was made even more special given the amount of support the Mustangs received from the Middletown student body.
“They knew how important this game was for us, it was do or die,” Owens said.
Middletown students and fans lined one entire side of the field shouting encouragement throughout the game. The Mustangs” undefeated junior varsity team also showed its support, swarming the field after the game ended to celebrate with the Middletown players.
“It was neat,” Owens said.
