LAKEPORT — Saying goodbye to 10 seniors is hard enough, but when one of them is your daughter, that’s even tougher.
Clear Lake High School girls soccer coach Derick Fiske had to do exactly that Tuesday evening as the Cardinals honored their seniors prior to beating Lower Lake 3-0 in their North Central League I and regular-season finale at Don Owens Stadium in Lakeport.
“There were some heartfelt moments,” Fiske said. “It was a great night to be a dad and a coach.”
Fiske’s daughter Ashton scored twice in the first half as the Cardinals (7-1 league, 8-5-1 overall) built a 3-0 halftime lead in a game they had to win in order to clinch a co-championship in the North Central League I. They finish tied with Middletown (7-1) for the league title although the Mustangs get the league’s automatic berth into next week’s North Coast Section Division 1 playoffs based on a number draw tiebreaker held before the beginning of the season.
Clear Lake will advance to the postseason as an at-large team. Who and where the Cardinals play in the first round next Wednesday won’t be determined until Sunday when the Division 1 field is released.
Fiske is hoping the Cardinals land on the same side of the Division 1 bracket as Middletown because he would like another crack at the Mustangs. The two teams split their league meetings this season, both winning at home.
“I would love to play Middletown in the playoffs,” Fiske said.
The Cardinals honored seniors Ashton Fiske, Emma Hook, Bella Hayes, Anyssa Perez, Grace Gomez, Nancy Ruzicka, Ashley Pyorre, Kiley Bartell, Lexi Davies and Brianna Knight during pregame introductions.
“My seniors gave me some super performances today,” Fiske said.
Following the game the Cardinals got to celebrate again — this time for winning a co-championship.
“I’m pretty happy about that,” Fiske said. “We always wanted to hang a banner.”
And the Cardinals will do exactly that for the first time in almost two decades. Middletown’s co-championship is the Mustangs’ 13th title in the last 15 years. They finished second a year ago behind Roseland University Prep after not playing at all in 2020 because of COVID-19. Prior to that, Middletown had won 12 league titles in a row.
Clear Lake played a “nearly flawless” first half against Lower Lake, according to Fiske. “You’re never perfect, but we pretty much did everything right in that first half. I was looking for things to talk to them about at halftime.”
Ashton Fiske scored on a penalty kick 10 minutes into the game, Pyorre put back a corner-kick rebound to make it 2-0 at the midway point of the first half, and Fiske scored again at the 30-minute mark.
Clear Lake wasn’t nearly as sharp in the second half, according to Fiske.
“We had some opportunities, including a penalty kick that banged off the crossbar. And Lexi Davies just missed wide left,” Fiske said. “I really wanted to see her put that one in.”
Lower Lake fell to 1-6 in league and 2-10 overall. The Trojans still have one game left, that on Thursday at home against Willits.
