LOWER LAKE — If scoring three goals is a hat trick, what is a four-goal game called?
“A hat trick plus one?” Middletown head coach Ashley Hart guessed Tuesday after watching junior Ellary Isherwood score four times in a 9-1 road victory over the Lower Lake Trojans in the North Central League I opener for both of these girls soccer teams.
Middletown (1-0 league, 2-1 overall) agreed to play with only nine players at Lower Lake’s request.
“I had to switch some things around at the last second, but it worked out pretty well,” Hart said.
Lower Lake (0-1, 0-1) was making its league and season debut and actually took a 1-0 lead.
“We were a little nervous at the beginning, but we started working well together,” Hart said.
Isherwood wasn’t the only Middletown player who had a big game. Sophomore Mariah Ketchum added three goals in her first high school game. Paige Astley and Zamora Rogers also scored for the Mustangs, who are the 12-time defending league champions.
“Ellary and Mariah were bulldogs out there,” Hart said. “They went right through them, they weren’t timid.”
Middletown led 5-1 at the half.
Lower Lake had only one shot on goal as a Middletown defense powered by Rogers and Harper Moreno shut down the passing lanes and kept pushing the ball up to the team’s forwards.
While it was Middletown’s third game of the season, Hart wasn’t on the sidelines for the first two last week during the Tyler Duncan Memorial Tournament in Upper Lake (boys head coach Michael Dodd filled in).
How did she feel in her soccer coaching debut?
“I was comfortable,” Hart said. “I’ve coached basketball before but not soccer,” added the Middletown alum. “I just want to give back to the program that gave me so much.”
Middletown is home Thursday to play Fort Bragg.
In other girls soccer action Tuesday:
Upper Lake 3, Clear Lake 2
At Upper Lake, in a rematch of their meeting last week at the Tyler Duncan Memorial Tournament, also played in Upper Lake, the Upper Lake Cougars edged the Clear Lake Cardinals in non-league action.
It was the third meeting between the two teams in the last nine days. They battled to a 2-2 tie in a scrimmage at Lakeport, and Clear Lake won 1-0 last during last week’s tournament action.
All the scoring took place in the first half. Upper Lake (4-1-1) jumped out to a 2-0 lead on goals by Ashlyn Rhodes and Jayme Zimmerschied. Clear Lake (3-1-1) rallied back on two goals from Lilianna Cruz. Karlee Zimmerschied’s goal right before halftime put the Cougars ahead to stay at 3-2.
Clear Lake entered play already banged up and with only 11 players — the bare minimum — in uniform.
“Our big goal was to get out of here alive,” Clear Lake head coach Derick Fiske said. “We did that, but we’re leaving Upper Lake with almost everyone still injured to some degree.”
The Cardinals don’t have a large team to begin with — only 13 players — and two of their better offensive players are starting on defense now out of need, according to Fiske.
The Cougars under head coach Daniella Santana are in much better shape both in terms of team health and roster size (17). The extra personnel allow them to maintain steady offensive pressure on an opponent, and they spent much of the first half on Clear Lake’s side of the field.
Anchored by junior Maddy Young in her season debut, Upper Lake’s defense looked solid most of the game. Young and teammate Jayme Zimmerschied flip-flopped positions at Young’s request, according to Santana, who said that Young moved from an attacking midfielder to center/defensive midfielder .
“It worked, she (Zimmerschied) scored a goal,” Santana said. “Maddy didn’t think she was in good enough shape, she didn’t think she was fast enough to play (on offense).”
Back in the lineup after a bout with COVID-19, Young missed the Cougars’ season-opening tournament last week, but she certainly held up her end of the position change with Zimmerschied on Tuesday.
“Having Maddy back, having her back anywhere on the field is a big change for us,” Santana said.
Fiske said her presence on defense definitely didn’t benefit Clear Lake.
“Maddy Young made a big difference. She controlled the ball well and her passes had a purpose.”
Cruz was able to break loose a couple of times against Upper Lake and her shots found the mark. Her first goal made its way around defender Kate Noble and past keeper Kali Minnis, the ball angling its way into the net just inside the frame.
“I don’t know how she made that,” Fiske said.
Cruz’s second goal just a few minutes later wasn’t nearly as dramatic but was every bit as effective as the Cardinals pulled even.
Karlee Zimmerschied, a senior forward, found the range not long after that to restore the Cougars’ lead, this time for good. Zimmerschied also assisted on Upper Lake’s first two goals.
Besides Young, Santana also praised Tatum Salas and Atlantis Jones for their solid defensive play.
Clear Lake opens its North Central League I schedule Thursday in Willits. Upper Lake is also on the road Thursday at St. Helena, a perennial contender for the NCL I title, in non-league action.
