MIDDLETOWN >> Enrique Cacho scored the first two goals, the second on a penalty kick, and Victor Cacho’s goal later in the second half goal proved to be the difference as the Kelseyville Knights secured a second straight undisputed North Central League I boys’ soccer championship with a 3-2 victory over the Middletown Mustangs on Tuesday in Middletown.
Kelseyville (9-1-1 league, 11-1-2 overall) entered the second half trailing 1-0 to the Mustangs (5-3-3), who handed the Knights their only league loss to date, also a 3-2 score, on Oct. 1 in Kelseyville.
“A little payback,” Kelseyville coach Eduardo Ledesma said. “It wasn’t easy.”
Freshmen Damian Ledesma and Adrian Villalobos moved the ball quickly up the field early in the second half to set up Enrique Cacho’s first goal that tied the score at 1.
“After that we started playing a lot better,” Ledesma said.
Enrique Cacho’s penalty kick put the Knights ahead to stay and Victor Cacho’s goal, assisted by Villalobos, made it 3-1.
Middletown closed to 3-2 in the 25th minute of the second half and had other chances to tie the score.
“There were a couple of close calls,” Ledesma said. “Our keeper Francisco (Duarte) made one great save.”
Jorge Morales and Einar Monroy scored for the Mustangs while Victor Lopez and Marco Lincoln had assists.
“It was a pretty good match, we played a really good game even if the score didn’t show it,” Middletown coach Luis Chairez said.
In other boys’ soccer action Tuesday:
Cloverdale 3, Lower Lake 0
At Lower Lake, the Cloverdale Eagles snapped Lower Lake’s three-game winning streak.
“Personally I think they are the best team we’ve faced,” Lower Lake coach Dan Griffin said. “That’s a pretty phenomenal team in my opinion.”
Lower Lake (3-7) trailed 1-0 after the first half.
“‘Cloverdale made us pay for our mistakes,” Griffin said.
Girls’ soccer
M’town 5, Kelseyville 3
At Middletown, that’s eight straight undisputed NCL I titles for the Middletown Mustangs (11-1, 12-3) and the second in a row for coach Amy Emerson.
Caitlin Lemone scored two goals within an assist had Kaleigh Alves added a goal and two assists as Middletown wrapped things up with a win over the Kelseyville Knights (5-4-3).
“They are the most improved team this year,” Middletown coach Amy Emerson said of Kelseyville. “I love that new Kelseyville coach. He teaches his players sportsmanship and skill. We love playing those guys.”
Aly Ferguson and Rosie Emerson also had goals for Middletown.
Megan Touros scored all three Kelseyville goals in the second half, assisted each time by Maria Verdugo.
Middletown led 1-0 at the half although Kelseyville stayed close the entire way, pulling to within 2-1, 3-2 and 4-3 in the second half.
“We made Middletown scramble,” Kelseyville coach Eric Hoefler said.
Clear Lake 3, St. Helena 2
At Lakeport, Ameilia Perry’s hat trick staked Clear Lake to a 3-0 lead and the Cardinals held on to beat the Saints in NCL I action.
St. Helena had a chance to tie the game late but Cardinals keeper Brooklyn Jenkins made a hard save to preserve Clear Lake’s lead.
“We played probably as well as we’ve played all year,” Clear Lake coach Paul Larrea said.
Clear Lake is now 5-5-3 in league and 6-12-5 overall.
Volleyball
Clear Lake 3, Willits 0
At Lakeport, the Clear Lake Cardinals improved to 7-3 in league play with a straight-set victory over Willits, 25-13, 25-14, 25-14.
“Everybody was hitting tonight,” Clear Lake coach Marci Psalmonds said. “They all did well.”
Rachel Wingler led the team with 10 kills, Valerie Hutton added seven kills and four blocks, Maddie West had six kills and two blocks, and Jazzy Rice contributed five kills, seven digs and 10 service points. Setter Emily Psalmonds racked up 27 assists along the way.
Clear Lake won the JV match 25-15, 25-13 behind four kills from Kiana Richardson and 10 points, two aces and eight assists from Kylie Udy.
M’town 3, Fort Bragg 0
At Middletown, a solid night up front powered the Middletown Mustangs to a 25-17, 25-18, 25-22 sweep of the Fort Bragg Timberwolves.
Abby Aden led the way with six kills while Olivia Glosser and Meghan Carlisle added five kills apiece. Emily Lescher had four kills and three blocks as Middletown improved to 6-3 in the NCL I standings.
Fort Bragg won the JV match 25-10, 25-20.
St. Helena 3, Lower Lake 0
At Lower Lake, the St. Helena Saints defeated the Lower Lake Trojans 25-17, 25-23, 25-9 in NCL I action, dropping Lower Lake to 1-9 in the league standings.
“We did a good job of blocking to begin with,” Lower Lake coach Darcie Schmidt said.
Brooke Taliaferro led the Trojans with seven kills and Ashlynn Mock added six.
St. Helena also won the JV match 25-18, 24-26, 15-9.
S. Academy 3, Upper Lake 2
At Upper Lake, the Upper Lake Cougars nearly fought back from a 2-0 deficit but Sonoma Academy hung on for the 25-21, 25-17, 16-25, 23-25, 19-17 victory in NCL II aciton.
“Service errors got us in the last game,” Upper Lake coach Raelene Cromwell said. “But our big girls did really good.”
Christina Wilson had a team-leading nine kills to go along with 29 digs, 15 service points and one ace. Natalie Karlsson added five kills, 19 digs, 17 assists, 15 points, one ace and one block, and Brenna Sanchez had four kills, three blocks, 15 points and a team-best five aces. Kejhana Taylor also had a good night with five kills, two blocks, four digs, 14 points and two aces.
