LAKEPORT >> Clear Lake High School boys soccer coach Shaun Hornby was looking to get the Cardinals back on the right track Tuesday afternoon as they hosted the Middletown Mustangs in a North Central League I game.
The Cardinals, losers of three straight since beating St. Helena in their league opener, are probably feeling a lot better about themselves after blasting a Middletown team still looking for league win No. 1 by a final score of 12-2.
“The player of the game for us was obviously Alexis,” Hornby said of forward Alexis Pizano, who scored five times while younger brother Flavio added two goals.
Ulysis Valencia also had two goals for the Cardinals.
“We finally got good officiating and we had a few people in the stands supporting us, which really helped,” Hornby said.
Nicholas Holmes anchored the Clear Lake defense, according to Hornby.
“He had a really, really good game,” Hornby said. “Their forwards were terrified of him.”
Clear Lake (2-3 league, 3-3 overall) jumped all over Middletown (0-4-1, 1-7-1) in the first half, scoring eight times for a 8-1 halftime lead.
The Cardinals are on the road Thursday against archrival Kelseyville.
“If we win we’ll be back in it, back to .500 (in league),” Hornby said of a possible victory over the Knights, the three-time defending league champions.
Evan Dodd and Filemon Sanchez scored for Middletown.
“We played a really, really rough first half,” Middletown coach Luis Chairez said. “In the second half we stepped it up. Clear Lake has a really good team and they move the ball well.”
Middletown hosts St. Helena on Thursday:
In other boys soccer action Tuesday:
Cloverdale 7, Kelseyville 2
At Cloverdale, the Kelseyville Knights picked up a red card in the first half and had to play a man down the rest of the game while falling to the Cloverdale Eagles in NCL I action.
Cloverdale had a 3-0 lead in the first half when the red card came out, according to Kelseyville coach Eduardo Ledesma, who said he could have lived with the call had the officiating been a little more consistent.
“The same play happened on the other side and they didn’t call a thing,” Ledesma said.
On the red card issued to Kelseyville, Ledesma said it wasn’t an automatic call.
“They talked about it, the refs were all confused and then they held up the red card,” he said.
Cloverdale led 4-1 at the half and lengthened its lead down the stretch.
Agustin Ortega and Jesus Aguilera scored for the Knights (1-3-1, 2-5-1). Justin Perez assisted on Aguilera’s goal.
The Knights return home Thursday to play Clear Lake.
Lower Lake 2, Fort Bragg 1
At Fort Bragg, Gerardo Rodrgiuez scored goals in the first and second halves to lead the Lower Lake Trojans to a NCL I win over the Fort Bragg Timberwolves.
Fort Bragg took a 1-0 lead before Rodriguez scored his first goal to pull the Trojans (4-1, 5-2) even. His second goal, which proved to be the game-winning shot, came 10 minutes into the second half. Lower Lake’s defense took it from there, shutting down the Timberwolves the rest of the way.
Angel Ochoa, Jesus Lazo, Hanzel Pelcastre and Octavio Perez were standouts for Lower Lake on defense, according to coach Javier Michel.
“It was a good game, exciting,” Michel said.
The Trojans are back in action Thursday at home against Willits.
