ROHNERT PARK — First-half goals by Karlee Zimmerschied and Tatum Salas held up for the Upper Lake Cougars in a 2-1 North Central League II girls soccer victory over the Technology Titans on Friday afternoon in Rohnert Park.
Upper Lake (5-0-1 league, 12-2-2 overall) went up 1-0 on Zimmerschied’s goal, assisted by Salas, just four minutes into the game. About 10 minutes later Salas scored off a corner kick to make it 2-0.
The Cougars’ defense kept Technology off the scoreboard until midway through the second half, but Upper Lake head coach Daniella Santana said the lead was never in danger in the final minutes.
Upper Lake had all kinds of scoring opportunities after going up 2-0.
“Lots of missed opportunities on our part,” Santana said.
Standouts for the Cougars were Tatum, keeper Kali Minnis and Vanessa Becerra-Lopez, according to Santana.
Upper Lake plays Tech again in a non-league game Wednesday in Rohnert Park. The Cougars will receive a forfeit next Friday when they scrimmage at Calistoga (the Wildcats don’t have enough players to field a team for an official game).
In other soccer action Friday:
Upper Lake 0, Mendocino 0 (tie)
At Mendocino, playing its second straight Mendocino County opponent on the road, the Upper Lake Cougars launched 23 shots but couldn’t get one to go in while settling for a 0-0 tie with the Mendocino Cardinals in NCL II boys soccer action.
Upper Lake fell 4-2 on Wednesday at Point Arena.
Both the Point Arena and Mendocino games took place on dirt fields that were barely playable, according to Upper Lake head coach Thomas Santana.
“We wore white jerseys to both games and we came back with black and brown jerseys,” he said.
The Cougars were on the attack almost all game against Mendocino but failed to score a single goal despite the best efforts of Sammy Avalos, who took six shots, and other members of the Upper Lake offense.
“We hit outside the frame, we hit the posts, we had shots right at their goalkeeper,” Santana said. “There was nothing hard for their goalkeeper. “It was horrible.”
Both teams had to contend with all kinds of dirt and dust.
“It was another dust bowl,” Santana said.
Upper Lake’s defense, anchored by strong play from Blaine Rhodes, limited Mendocino to four shots on goal.
“They (Cardinals) didn’t attack much, but when they did he did a great job on the back line,” Santana said of Rhodes.
Upper Lake (1-1-1 league, 2-5-2 overall) plays twice at home next week against league opponents Tomales on Wednesday and Point Arena on Friday.
