MIDDLETOWN — First-half goals by Roberto Chaires and Einar Monroy held up as the Middletown Mustangs defeated the Lower Lake Trojans 2-1 in North Central League I boys soccer action on Tuesday evening in Middletown.
The Mustangs improved to 2-4-1 in league play at the halfway mark. They begin the second half of their NCL I schedule on Thursday in Fort Bragg.
“The team played great, they’re coming together,” Middletown head coach Carlos Montes said.
Since starting the season 0-7, Middletown has gone 2-0-1 in its last three games, all of them league contests.
Chaires scored on a free kick to give Middletown a 1-0 lead and Einar Monroy made it 2-0 with a penalty kick after teammate Hunter Blair was tackled in the box. Lower Lake scored early in the second half but Middletown’s defense held firm the rest of the way.
Blair, a right striker, Monroy, a center-midfielder, and defender Chaires all turned in strong efforts for Middletown, according to Montes.
“Hunter was doing an amazing job,” Montes said.
In other boys soccer action Tuesday:
Clear Lake 2, Cloverdale 2 (tie)
At Lakeport, Ulices Valencia scored a goal in each half, but it was the one he didn’t score with five minutes remaining that resulted in Clear Lake and Cloverdale battling to a tie in NCL I action.
Not that Clear Lake head coach Shaun Hornby was blaming his talented striker. He certainly wasn’t.
“It was just a shame that he didn’t get it,” Hornby said. “He was wide open and his shot hit off the post and bounced back. Cloverdale was behind him and they were able to clear it.”
Valencia’s second goal of the game gave Clear Lake a brief 2-1 lead in the second half. Cloverdale tied it up a few minutes later with a shot that glanced off the crossbar and leaked into the net.
“It was a fair result,” Hornby said of the outcome. “We were the better team in the first half and they were the better team in the second half.”
Clear Lake is home Thursday to open the second half of league play against St. Helena.
Kelseyville 3, St. Helena 1
At Kelseyville, playing a man up in the second half, the Kelseyville Knights scored three times to beat the St. Helena Saints.
St. Helena lost its goalkeeper to a red card in the first half when he upended Kelseyville’s Dante Moreno just outside the box.
“He was playing the ball but Dante is really fast and he knocked his feet out from under him,” Kelseyville head coach Eduardo Ledesma said.
Despite being down a man in the first half, St. Helena took a 1-0 lead against the Knights.
Kelseyville regrouped at halftime and opened the second half by moving a defender forward to help the offense. The extra attacker up front paid off, according to Ledesma.
“We had some misses, but the opportunities we had we took advantage of,” Ledesma said.
Thomas Green tied the game at 1-1 and Luis Cacho’s goal put the Knights ahead to stay at 2-1. Jc Chavez added an insurance goal later in the second half. Damian Ledesma and Luis Soto picked up assists.
The Knights are now 2-4-1 in league play. They are home Thursday to open the second half of their league schedule against Lower Lake.
