ST. HELENA — A painful first half of the North Central League I boys soccer season ended Tuesday for the Clear Lake Cardinals with a 5-2 loss to the St. Helena Saints at St. Helena.
Clear Lake makes the turn at 1-6 in league play and 5-6-2 overall, the first time this season the Cardinals have slipped below the .500 mark after a 4-0-2 preseason.
The Cardinals trailed 2-1 at halftime and 3-2 in the second half after Ulices Valencia scored his second goal of the game, this one a penalty kick. His goal in the first half was assisted by Nicholas Holmes.
“We were thinking at halftime we were in this,” Clear Lake coach Shaun Hornby said. “After Ulices scored again to make it 3-2, we were pushing, looking really good. We were attacking really good.”
St. Helena improved to 6-1 in league play with the victory.
“The score wasn’t really fair justice,” Hornby said in assessing his team’s performance. “I thought we played really well. I was proud of the kids.”
Clear Lake opens the second half of its league schedule Thursday on the road against Lower Lake at 4 p.m.
