LOWER LAKE >> After opening their North Central League I schedule with losses to Fort Bragg and St. Helena, the Lower Lake Trojans cracked the win column on Tuesday by dispatching the Clear Lake Cardinals 5-1 in varsity boys” soccer action at Lower Lake.
“We came out real flat again in the second half, for about the first 15 minutes, but we started to find our stride and played real well the last 25 minutes,” Lower Lake coach Dan Griffin said of his team”s first league win, a victory the team needed after not coming close against Fort Bragg (7-3 loss) and St. Helena (6-0 loss).
Lower Lake (1-2 league, 3-4 overall) built a 2-1 halftime lead on goals by Juan Ochoa and David Fernandez. Ochoa”s goal was a lesson in persistence as he headed the ball off the post, collected the rebound and kicked it past the keeper to make it 1-0. The first of three Fernandez goals made it 2-0 before Clear Lake got on the board near the end of the first half.
“A real nice shot,” Griffin said of the Cardinals” lone score.
After the slow start in the second half, Lower Lake”s offense came back on line with a vengeance. Fernandez scored twice, both times on Ochoa assists, to make it 4-1. Luis Pelcastre added an insurance goal late in the game on a penalty kick.
Anchoring a strong effort by the Lower Lake defense were Ramon Mayorga and Octavio Perez, according to Griffin.
“He (Mayorga) was strong on defense. He took some pretty big gambles going through their strikers a couple of times,” Griffin said.
Perez, the smallest player on the team, also did his part to shut down Clear Lake”s offense.
“He gave me some great minutes on defense,” Griffin said.
Lower Lake is home on Thursday to take on Cloverdale at 5:30 p.m.
Clear Lake, now 0-3 in league and 0-5 overall, is home Thursday to play St. Helena at 5:30 p.m.
