MIDDLETOWN — The showdown is set. When the Middletown Mustangs host the Clear Lake Cardinals on Thursday in a North Central League I girls soccer game, the league title will be riding on the line.
Both teams won Tuesday to set the stage for Thursday’s rematch, the first meeting going to Clear Lake in a hard-fought 2-1 win on Oct. 4 at Lakeport. If the Cardinals (6-0 league, 7-4-1) beat Middletown again, they’ll be the undisputed league champions even if they lose their league finale next Tuesday at home against Lower Lake. If Middletown (6-1, 8-4) wins, the two teams will share the title provided Clear Lake beats Lower Lake next week. In the event of a tie, Clear Lake would still hold a one-game lead over Middletown going into the Lower Lake game.
Middletown 4, Fort Bragg 2
At Middletown, the Mustangs played a near flawless first half against the Fort Bragg Timberwolves, building a 3-0 halftime lead, but struggled to put the game away in the second half. It wasn’t until freshman Jenna Tufo scored her third goal of the game with 10 minutes remaining that sealed the victory for Middletown.
“We played a beautiful half, our first half,” Middletown head coach Ashlyn Welton said. “In the second half we looked beat. We can’t play like that against Clear Lake if we want to win that game. I have a really good team, I’m hoping we can pull it together (for Thursday).”
Middletown built a 3-0 lead in the first half on the strength of a pair of Tufo goals sandwiched around a Sophie Yerba score.
Fort Bragg closed to 3-2 in the second half before Tufo completed her hat trick.
Standouts for the Mustangs besides Tufo were Yerba, Autumn Clark, Kamilah Chairez, Laylanee Raymundo and Calista Hoskins, according to Welton.
“Autumn Clark played strong defense,” Welton said. “Laylanee just joined us after having a concussion. She played the whole game and did a good job.”
Looking ahead to Clear Lake, which is both the league and regular-season finale for the Mustangs, Welton said, “The girls are very, very excited. Hopefully it turns out better for us this time.”
Following Thursday’s game, both teams won’t know who, when or where they are playing in the upcoming North Coast Section Division I playoffs until the at-large and seeding meeting takes place Oct. 30. First-round games are Wednesday, Nov. 2.
Clear Lake 3, Willits 0
At Willits, so frustrated were the Willits Wolverines and their fans with Clear Lake’s suffocating play on defense that officials called the game seven minutes early because of rowdy fan behavior, including behind the Clear Lake bench, according to Clear Lake head coach Derick Fiske.
“It was getting out of hand,” Fiske said of some of the comments directed at Clear Lake’s players, including Fiske’s daughter, Ashton, who scored the first goal of the game and assisted on the second goal as the senior-dominated Cardinals improved to 6-0 in league play and won their seventh straight overall.
Willits made a couple of runs and had a handful of scoring opportunities early on against Clear Lake, but the Wolverines never came close to scoring after that, according to Fiske, who said Clear Lake keeper Kiley Bartell stopped “three or four shots,” most coming off corner kicks.
Between the defense of Anyssa Perez and Brianna Knight and the midfield play of Ashley Pyorre, Nancy Ruzicka and Grace Gomez, the Cardinals spent the remainder of the game applying constant pressure of the Willits defense.
“They had trouble getting the ball to midfield,” Fiske said of the Wolverines. “They were getting very frustrated by the second half.”
As the frustration built, so did the comments directed at the Cardinals in what already was a physical game, according to Fiske.
“It got pretty chippy out there,” Fiske said.
More of a concern were the comments directed at Clear Lake’s bench by Willits fans.
“We did a pretty good job ignoring it, but it was getting to a point where something had to be said,” said Fiske, who made the officials aware of the situation early on.
Finally, as the situation continued to worsen, the official simply called the game rather than risk letting things escalate out of control.
“That was fine with us,” Fiske said.
Clear Lake had the game thoroughly wrapped up by then anyway, according to Fiske.
Ashton Fiske opened the scoring just three minutes into the game, taking a long pass from freshman Giselle Carbajal in stride and firing a shot past the Willits keeper.
“Might be one of the better goals I’ve ever seen her score,” Fiske said of his daughter’s shot. “Giselle made a perfect feed. It was such a long pass, I didn’t know if Ashton would catch up to it.”
Clear Lake held that 1-0 lead until right before halftime when Emma Hook scored with an assist from Fiske to make it 2-0.
The Cardinals padded their lead in the second half when McKayla Bondi corralled a rebound from teammate Ruzicka’s direct kick and knocked it into the goal.
Clear Lake was entirely focused on Willits and not looking ahead to Thursday’s big game with Middletown, according to Fiske.
“Thursday’s game would have been a little less important if we hadn’t taken care of business tonight,” Fiske said. “We were doing everything with a purpose. Our core group of girls has been together for the last five, six or seven years and we’re getting close to accomplishing what we set out to do.”
Added Fiske, “We’re starting to peak at the right time.”
