The Lady Eagles finished up a championship fall soccer campaign last week, falling to Middletown, 3-1 in the semifinals of North Coast Section Division-3 playoffs.
The Nov. 13 match at Middletown was the fourth meeting between the teams this season, with the teams splitting a pair of regular-season games before the Mustangs won a special playoff to gain the NCS automatic berth on Oct. 29.
“This year’s playoff game was almost a carbon copy of last year’s,” noted veteran Eagles coach Steve Stewart. “I thought we played pretty well in the first half but made two mistakes and like a good team, Middletown capitalized on our mistakes.”
The Mustangs drew first blood in the 23rd minute off a defensive breakdown when the Eagles failed to clear the ball out of the box, leading to a Middletown goal and a 1-0 lead. The Mustangs scored again five minutes later to grab a 2-0 advantage at the break.
Middletown effectively iced the contest early in the second half, capitalizing on a slip by the Eagle’s sweeper to take a critical 3-0 lead.
The Eagles got on the board in the 58th minute of the game when Bailey Stewart converted on a ricochet off a Mustang defender to make it a 3-1 ballgame.
Cloverdale made a valiant push late in the match but an apparent goal was called back for an off sides penalty, as Middletown hung on for a 3-1 win.
“We had opportunities but couldn’t convert them into goals,” coach Steve Stewart said. “I was extremely proud of how hard our girls played, especially our seniors; Jazmin Ororzco, Hanah Faso, Viviana Martinez, and Amy Mora. Overall this was our most successful season.”
The Lady Eagles finished the season with an overall record of 19-3 and a share of the NCL-1 championship.
It’s worth noting that Cloverdale’s group of seniors finished up high school play with an overall record of 62-15-9 over their four-year career at CHS and 35-5-3 over the past two years, both school records.
Middletown (19-3) went on to the NCS Division-3 title game, falling to Sonoma Academy 5-2.
