LAKE COUNTY — A baker’s dozen worth of Lake County boys soccer players earned honors of some type on the recently selected 2021 All-North Central League I squad.
The number of All-Leaguers each team received was tied to its number of league wins. As a result, undefeated league champion Cloverdale (14-0) landed all of its starters on the All-League team, led by co-most valuable players Emmanuel Gonzales, a senior, and David Gonzalez, a junior.
St. Helena, the NCL I runner-up at 12-2, had the next-most All-League selections with seven, followed by Middletown and Willits with four apiece, Lower Lake, Kelseyville and Clear Lake with three each, and Fort Bragg with two.
Lake County had three first-team selections in Middletown junior Adrian Backus, Kelseyville senior Jaime Chavez and Lower Lake senior Leo Brown. Backus, the Mustangs’ keeper, figured prominently in Middletown’s first winning season in many years, including a trip to the North Coast Section playoffs.
Four county athletes pulled down second-team honors. They were Middletown junior Nadav Dicovski, Kelseyville senior Dante Moreno, Clear Lake junoir Rodolfo Arias, and Lower Lake senior Ricardo Perez.
A half-dozen county players received honorable mentions. Roberto Chaires, a senior, and teammate Ryan Reed, a junior, represented Middletown while junior Orel Gosman and senior teammate Anthony Salmeron were honored from Clear Lake. Other honorable mentions went to Lower Lake senior Braian Perez and Kelseyville sophomore Frank Cortes.
