MIDDLETOWN — In what could be a playoff matchup down the road, the Roseland University Prep Knights from Santa Rosa scored off of a corner kick with two minutes remaining to edge the Middletown Mustangs 2-1 in a non-league girls soccer battle on Tuesday afternoon in Middletown.
It was the first loss of the season for the Mustangs (3-1), who beat RUP 2-0 in their season opener last season in Santa Rosa. Both teams went on to reach the postseason as champions in their respective leagues — Middletown in the North Central League I and RUP in the NCL II —
but the two did not meet in the North Coast Section Division I playoffs.
“They’re organized on offense, organized on defense and well-coached,” Middletown coach Lamont Kucer said of the Knights (2-0). “A couple of mental errors did us in.”
A handball led to the game’s first goal as RUP was awarded a penalty kick and scored in the first half for a 1-0 lead. Middletown tied it later in the half on a 35-yard free kick by Sophie Kucer, her shot grazing the cross bar before settling into the net.
“It was a beautiful shot,” Kucer said of his daughter’s goal.
The game-winning goal late in the second half came on a corner kick that may have been deflected by a Middletown player into the net.
“There were a lot of people there, I’m not sure if one of our girls got a piece of it,” Kucer said. “We had a chance to clear it. Our first touch should have been to head it out of there.”
RUP put a tremendous amount of pressure on Middletown early in the game, according to Kucer, but the Mustangs were able to withstand the barrage.
“We felt pretty about it going into halftime,” Kucer said. “We had lots and lots of chances.”
Middletown’s hard and fast playing surface was a big change from the Mustangs’ first three matches of the season last weekend when they won the second annual Tyler Memorial Tournament at Upper Lake High School.
“We practice on it, but there are a couple of rough patches,” Kucer said. “It took us about 20 minutes before we felt comfortable.”
Sophie Kucer, a junior and the most valuable player in the NCL I last season, played her best game of the season in what is the first of consecutive home games this week for Middletown against quality opposition (they host Fortuna on Thursday).
“She played with a lot of heart,” Kucer said.
Other standouts for the Mustangs were center-backs Zamora Rogers, Abby Sabeter and Olivia Kucer.
“We’ll get back to practice (Wednesday) to practice the things we need to work on,” Kucer said. “Fortuna is going to be another tough test for us.”
