LAKEPORT — Pedro Parra and Diego Morales scored first-half goals as the Lower Lake Trojans beat the Clear Lake Cardinals 3-1 in North Central League I boys soccer action Tuesday afternoon at Don Owens Stadium in Lakeport.
Lower Lake (4-3 league, 5-4 overall) played a man down for nearly the entire second half after losing a starter to a red card, which means automatic ejection.
“We played pretty smart when we were a man down,” Lower Lake head coach Michael McMurtrey said. “We got better and better at communication and passing the ball.”
“We couldn’t get it done,” Clear Lake coach Kevin O’Brien said of the one-man advantage the Cardinals enjoyed for almost all of the second half. “We had a chance in the first minute of the game but we missed a wide-open shot. Lower Lake came right back in the third minute to score. If we had scored first it might have changed the tone of the game a little bit.”
Added O’Brien, “We weren’t doing the stuff we do on the training ground.”
Lower Lake picked up its third goal early in the second half courtesy of Jose Solorio. Christian Arroyo picked up the assist.
Lower Lake built a 2-0 halftime lead. Clear Lake finally scored on a Maico Carrillo goal in the second half to make it 3-1.
“Our defense was working pretty well,” McMurtrey said.
It was the league and season finale for the Cardinals (0-7-1, 0-9-1). Lower Lake hosts Willits on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. in its final league game.
In other boys soccer action Tuesday:
Mendocino 4, Upper Lake 2
At Mendocino, two late goals by Sammy Avalos put the Cougars on the scoreboard but it was a case of too little, too late for Upper Lake in its regular-season finale against the Mendocino Cardinals.
“They counter attack really well,” Upper Lake head coach Thomas Santana said of the Cardinals, who built a 3-0 halftime lead. “It was a rough start and we put our heads down a little bit after that.”
Mendocino also scored first in the second half to go up 4-0, but the Cougars began to show some life at that point, according to Santana.
“The seniors figured out this could be their last game, so they started to pick it up,” Santana said.
Upper Lake (7-13-1) will apply for an at-large berth Sunday when the North Coast Section releases the Division 2 playoff field.
“We played a lot of good teams at the beginning of the season and we played a lot of games (21), so that might help out,” Santana said of the prospect of securing an at-large berth.
If picked for the playoff field, the Cougars figure to open on the road against a much higher seed in first-round action. Santana said his squad doesn’t have a problem with that.
“The kids were talking about how we have a really good team that hasn’t figured out how to play as a team yet, but we could upset someone if we do figure it out,” Santana said.
Mendocino wasted no time getting the jump on the Cougars, getting its first two goals in rapid succession.
“The first one was a penalty kick after a hand ball in the box,” Santana said. “It started spiraling downhill after that.”
