LAKEPORT >> Shyanne Chapin’s penalty kick brought Clear Lake to within a goal with 30 minutes left in the second half, but the Cardinals, even with a one-player advantage the final 15 minutes, fell 3-1 to the Rancho Cotate Cougars in the opener for both of these varsity girls’ soccer teams on Monday at Lakeport.
Clear Lake (0-1) had to shuffle its defense at the last second because of a weekend wrist injury sustained by keeper Brooklyn Jenkins. Regina Faalelea, the Cardinals’ starting center-mid, moved into the net and did quite well, according to Clear Lake coach Paul Larrea.
“She was incredible, absolutely incredible,” Larrea said. “She made a lot of really good stops. Two of the goals they scored were because of defensive breakdowns.”
But Faalelea’s solid play at keeper came at a price.
“She’s our center-mid and we run everything through her,” said Larrea, who had to press a less experienced player into that position.
Rancho Cotate scored the only two goals of the first half. Chapin’s penalty kick made it 2-1 in the second half. The Cougars lost a player to a red card a short time later but Clear Lake was unable to take advantage of the 11-on-10 opportunity.
“For what we had to work with today, we did the best we could do,” Larrea said. “I thought we played well.”
Larrea had praise for the efforts of several players, not the least of which were forward Chapin and Faalelea.
“I thought Cierra (Moreno) and Mina (Werner) did a great job on defense,” he added. “Our sophomores by and large all played well.”
Clear Lake hosts Technology in a non-league game Wednesday at 3:30 p.m.
