LAKEPORT — Clear Lake’s co-ed soccer team held its own for the better part of the first half Tuesday afternoon against the visiting St. Helena boys squad before the Saints’ relentless pressure began to take its toll.
In a game that was scoreless at the midway point of the first half, St. Helena unleashed a five-goal barrage before halftime and went on to beat the Cardinals 6-0 in North Central League I action at Don Owens Stadium in Lakeport.
Clear Lake’s boys and girls squads combined their players last week because neither team had enough to go at it alone. As a result, the new co-ed Cardinals will finish out the boys schedule this season. Tuesday’s effort was their first since the merger.
“It was the first game for everybody together,” said Clear Lake co-head coach Kevin O’Brien. “There were expected mistakes with people out of position, our spacing on the field, passes not being on target, things like that.”
O’Brien, Clear Lake’s boys coach, and Derick Fiske, the Cardinals’ girls coach, spent most of the last three weeks trying to find enough players to fill out their respective rosters, but to no avail Now with the merger, they have more than 20 healthy bodies to work with and can actually concentrate on coaching.
“We worked pretty hard to get everyone in today,” O’Brien said. “Going forward we might not be able to get everyone a lot of playing time as we put things together.”
There were a handful of plays Tuesday during which Clear Lake’s girls tangled with the St. Helena boys and didn’t back down one inch, and Nancy Ruzicka was involved in most of those.
“Nancy played very well,” O’Brien said. “We moved her to center/back in the second half and she did a great job.”
Added O’Brien, “A couple of our girls weighed in on some challenges and I think they surprised the other team and I think they surprised our team.”
St. Helena, usually among the NCL I’s top boys teams, substituted freely throughout the second half and scored just one goal.
“We looked better in the second half,” O’Brien said. “Part of that was them (Saints) playing their second team, but we did a better job. Credit St. Helena for being a really good team. They’re fast and they’ve got a lot of experienced players.”
O’Brien credited Ruzicka, Anthony Salmeron, Peyton Ewing, Kyle Ewing and Nolan Ewing with solid performances.
Clear Lake has a bye Thursday and returns to action Tuesday in Middletown.
Team notes: While Clear Lake’s co-ed squad will play out the remainder of the boys schedule this season, the Clear Lake girls have been dropped from the league schedule in 2021. On days other teams are scheduled to play the Clear Lake girls, it will be treated as a bye and not a forfeit win.
