MIDDLETOWN — Win No. 13 in a row means that league title No. 12 in a row is a done deal.
The Middletown Mustangs improved to 13-0 in the North Central League I girls soccer standings on Thursday afternoon with a dominating 8-1 victory over the Willits Wolverines. More importantly, the Mustangs, who are 17-3-1 overall, wrapped up yet another undisputed league championship. They shoot for a perfect NCL I season on Tuesday when they travel to Lakeport to take on the Clear Lake Cardinals (8-5).
After that it’s off to the North Coast Section playoffs where the Mustangs are hoping to bring home a section pennant, which they last won in 2012 under former coach Lee Hoage.
“Our girls are absolutely motivated to finish this thing with a perfect league record,” Middletown head coach Lamont Kucer said. “We’re approaching it like it was a championship game.”
Besides, Kucer, now in his fourth season with the Mustangs, has never gone 14-0 in league although his teams have won league titles every year. Two of those teams — 2016 and 2018 — did go undefeated but weren’t perfect — 13-0-1 last season and 11-0-3 in 2016.
“I’ve always had that one loss or a tie thrown in there,” he said.
No Kucer-coached team at Middletown has had better chemistry, according to the head coach, and he should know.
“It’s a good group of girls. It’s been drama free,” Kucer said. “They all support each other.”
Not even the loss of two starters to other sports this season slowed the Mustangs down in their annual league pennant quest. And given the composition of the team — only three seniors — there appears to be no end in sight to the Mustangs’ league domination. Those three seniors will certainly be missed, according to Kucer, who honored the trio between the girls and boys games on Thursday. Nayla Chaires, Abby Sabater and Luana Gisler, an exchange student from Switzerland, all received flowers, candy necklaces and a nice round of applause for their contributions to the team’s success this year.
“We’re going to be in a great spot again next year,” Kucer said with an eye to the future of the program.
In Thursday’s action, Middletown took control early on, building a 5-0 halftime lead.
“The whole team played well … midfield, defense, forwards. We came out pretty focused and had a good first half.”
Sophie Kucer scored three goals in the win while Georgia Guerrero added two more and Zamora Rogers and Ellary Isherwood one apiece. The Mustangs also picked up an own goal. Kucer and Guerrero also had two assists apiece while Isherwood and Chaires each had one.
Sabater played her first complete game since returning from an ankle injury that cost her half of the league season. Keeper Leslie Chairez missed the game with an injury but Emily Maccario ably filled in, according to Kucer.
“We may not get Leslie back this season,” Kucer said. “If that’s the case, Emily has earned my trust and if we go into the playoffs with her as our goalie, I’m more than fine with that.”
In other girls soccer action Thursday:
Lower Lake 2, Fort Bragg 1
At Lower Lake, the Lower Lake Trojans closed out their season in the best way possible as they honored their nine seniors with a 2-1 victory over the Fort Bragg Timberwolves.
The Trojans finish 4-10 in league and 5-13 overall under head coach Andrea Mahling, who took the team to the postseason a year ago, including a first-round upset of the St. Helena Saints.
“It was a tough season because I knew what these girls were capable of,” Mahling said. “That’s the tough part. They have the skills, but sometimes the skills were not enough. We played teams that were faster than us or passed the ball than us.”
Mahling said she couldn’t be any prouder of her nine seniors, who were honored prior to the start of the game.
“They’re a good group of girls,” Mahling said. “A lot of them have jobs, a lot of them are the only drivers in their families and sometimes they have to miss a practice or a game to take a family member to the doctor. It’s amazing how they juggle everything, but they still make soccer a priority. They love to play.”
Lower Lake’s seniors are Jacqueline Galvan, whose goal with 20 minutes left in the game proved to be the game-winning shot as it snapped a 1-1 tie; Melissa Mendez, who scored in the first half to give the Trojans a 1-0 lead; Michaela Stone, Anna Gutierrez, Alora Vinyard, Kayla Zepada, Kailey Oakley, Evelyn Villalobos, and Maria Arellano.
On Galvan’s tie-breaking shot, Mahling said. “She fought hard to get through the defense.”
Mahling, an eighth-grade teacher at the high school, said the Trojans will return in 2020 with a lot of new faces but she welcomes the challenge.
