MIDDLETOWN — Clear Lake High School’s co-ed soccer team gave the Middletown boys all they could want Tuesday afternoon in a North Central Lake I soccer match decided by a single goal in the second half.
Nadav Dicovski scored near the midway mark of the second half as the Mustangs edged the Cardinals 1-0 in 100-degree heat at Middletown High School.
“They kept us in check, gave us a fight,” said Middletown High School co-head coach Michael Dodd, who had nothing but praise for the efforts of the Cardinals and their two coaches, Kevin O’Brien and Derick Fiske.
“I absolutely think what they have done over there is amazing,” Dodd said. “They deserve coach of the year. The kids are playing inspired soccer. I’m impressed with their effort, their tenacity.”
Clear Lake didn’t have enough boys or girls to field teams this season, so the Cardinals combined the boys coached by O’Brien and girls coached by Fiske into a co-ed squad that will play out the remainder of the boys 2021 schedule. They lost 6-0 at home to St. Helena last week in their co-ed debut and are still looking for their first goal after the loss at Middletown on Tuesday.
“The second half I thought we were a bit more balanced,” O’Brien said of the Cardinals’ play. “The last 10 minutes we really had them back on their heels a little bit, but we just couldn’t finish our attacks.”
Dicovski’s goal made it through a Clear Lake defense that had done a great job frustrating the Mustangs almost the entire way, with keeper Rodolfo Arias turning back some tough shots.
“He kept us in the game,” O’Brien said.
On Dicovski’s goal, which was set up by a Roberto Chaires cross, O’Brien said, “It was the one real opportunity they had during a long stretch of good play by our defense, but they took advantage.”
“Nadav just blitzed their defense,” Dodd said.
Middletown (3-1 league, 5-2 overall) played a bit on the tentative side, according to Dodd, who said the team appears to be in a kind of funk after an 8-2 loss last week in St. Helena.
“We were just a little bit lethargic. They were playing not to lose instead of playing to win.”
Added Dodd, “We were not playing the we did in our first five games (Middletown went 4-1 during that stretch).”
Orel Gosman, Clear Lake’s senior center/attacking midfielder, turned in a strong performance, according to O’Brien.
“He created some opportunities for us,” O’Brien said. “He’s played mainly defense in the past, but we’re asking him to be our creative guy this year. He’s got some pretty high level skills.”
Sophomore Nya Marcks also played well in the loss, according to O’Brien.
“She impressed me up top (on offense),” O’Brien said. “She showed good aggression and made real good runs at the goal.”
Both teams received extra water breaks because of the triple-digit heat.
“The players were definitely feeling it,” O’Brien said. “It took a toll,” Dodd added.
Clear Lake is 0-3 in league and 0-5-1 overall.
Middletown hosts Kelseyville on Thursday while Clear Lake hosts Lower Lake.
