LAKEPORT >> In a game they never trailed, the Clear Lake Cardinals beat the St. Helena Saints 3-2 on Wednesday in Lakeport to take over sole possession of first place in the North Central League I girls’ soccer standings.
Clear Lake, under the direction of first-year coach Tommy Burke, is now 5-0-1 in the league standings, one full game ahead of St. Helena (4-1-1) and Middletown (3-0-3). The Cardinals reach the midway point of the league season Tuesday with a road game at Kelseyville (2-2-2), then they return home Oct. 6 to begin the second half against Middletown, the eight-team defending league champion.
“I’m excited,” Burke said. “Today was a team effort. All 11 girls played well.”
Clear Lake opened up a 2-0 lead on goals by Tianna Jardstrom and Lexi Burke. St. Helena closed to 2-1 late in the first half. In the second half, a Nicole Duncan goal assisted by Burke proved to be the game-winning shot as St. Helena made it 3-2 with about 20 minutes remaining.
“It got scary the last eight minutes,” Burke said. “They put a ton of pressure on us. Our defense played another solid game. I couldn’t be prouder of these girls.”
