POINT ARENA — The ongoing drought has hit some areas harder than others and Mendocino County soccer fields are among the early casualties.
“There were clouds of dust everywhere,” Upper Lake High School boys soccer head coach Thomas Santana said of the Cougars 4-2 loss to the Point Arena Pirates in North Central League II play Wednesday afternoon at Point Arena.
“They play on a dirt field and they practice on the same field,” Santana said. “My players couldn’t see the ball at times there was so much dust.”
Point Arena snapped a 2-2 tie with 10 minutes left in the game, at which point Santana said the Cougars moved players forward to beef up the offense.
“We moved everybody up trying to score,” he said. “It left us vulnerable on defense and they scored again.”
While Upper Lake had a handful of opportunities to add to its goal total, Santana said the Cougars spent most of the game fending off Point Arena attacks.
“They were attacking most of the game,” Santana added.
Kai Young scored the Cougars’ first goal. Point Arena had a 2-1 lead later in the first half when Upper Lake picked up an own goal courtesy of the Pirates defense and a lucky bounce. That score tied the game at 2 right before halftime.
Santana credited Sammy Avalos and Angel Serafin with solid performances.
“And our whole back line played well,” Santana added.
Upper Lake returns to the Mendocino coast Friday afternoon for a league game with Mendocino.
“The refs that worked this game are also working that game and they told us the Mendocino field was no better,” Santana said.
In fact, the game may be moved just up the road to Fort Bragg High School if Timberwolf Stadium is available, according to Santana.
