SANTA ROSA >> Closing out their first season of winter soccer, the Kelseyville Knights fell 6-0 to No. 1 seed Cardinal Newman in the opening round of the North Coast Section Division 4 boys playoffs Wednesday night in Santa Rosa.
“One of our goals was to reach the playoffs and we did that,” Kelseyville head coach KC White said. “I was happy we got the opportunity to be in the playoffs, for our seniors especially. It was a good accomplishment.”
The 16th seed in a 16-team playoff field, the Knights fell behind 4-0 in the first half.
“They’re really good, very together,” White said of the Cardinals (9-4-5), who draw No. 8 seed Piedmont in Saturday’s quarterfinal round. “We never stopped fighting, we never gave up. We had a few chances today.”
Kelseyville (6-6-1) was able to empty its bench in the loss.
“The one good thing about a blowout is you get to play everybody,” White said. “Everyone got a lot of minutes.”
Distinguishing themselves in the final game of the 2022-23 season were defenders Omar De La Cruz and Alex Cabrera, according to White.
“Omar did a good job on the backline,” White said. “Alex made some big plays.”
The Knights were making their first playoff appearance since 2017, which accomplished a couple of things, according to White.
“The seniors got to experience the playoffs,” White said.
At the same time, the team’s younger players got their first taste of postseason play and hopefully not their last.
Because of the shift to winter soccer and fewer local teams available to schedule, the Knights played only 13 games this season. White said he’ll try to schedule upward of 20 for the 2023-24 campaign.
The hardest part to ending any season is parting with seniors, according to White.
“It got a little emotional,” White added. “Saying goodbye to this group of seniors was tough.”
