Knights drop 3-1 soccer decision to St. Helena

Teams struggle with poor field conditions at Kelseyville

Aiden Rivas’ penalty kick pulled Kelseyville into a 1-1 tie at the half, but the St. Helena Saints went on to beat the Knights 3-1 in North Central League I boys soccer action Thursday night in Kelseyville.

Rivas scored in the 30th minute to erase a 1-0 St. Helena lead. The Knights (1-1 league, 3-1 overall) had a chance to push in front late in the first half but missed a point-blank shot that cleared the top frame of the goal.

“That could have changed everything if we had gone up 2-1,” Kelseyville head coach KC White said.

St. Helena scored the only two goals of the second half to hand Kelseyville its first league loss.

“St. Helena is a really, really good team,” White said. “You could definitely tell the difference between them and the first three teams we played.”

Kelseyville keeper Frank Cortes did all he could do to keep the the Knights within range.

“He made some incredible saves,” White said. “Without him there’s no way we could have kept close.”

St. Helena scored in the game’s first six minutes to go up 1-0.

Both teams struggled with the awful field conditions.

“The field was horrible,” White said. “The rain last night damaged the field pretty good. Players on both teams were slipping all over the place.”

Along with Cortes, White gave high marks to the play of Alex Cabrera.

“He provided a lot of physicality that was much needed,” White said.

St. Helena also spoiled the Kelseyville junior varsity team’s season debut, winning 6-1. Alex Jimenez scored for the Knights (01) with an assist from Diego Rico.

The Saints led 2-0 at the half.

Miguel Corona’s play on the back line stood out for the Knights, according to White.

“It was good to get them some playing time,” White said of his JV players. “I was proud of them. They didn’t stop fighting.”

Both Kelseyville boys teams are on the road Saturday against non-league opponent Ukiah as part of a four-game set between the two schools. The JV boys open things at 11 a.m., the JV girls follow at 1 p.m., the varsity girls play at 3 p.m. and the varsity boys square off at 5 p.m.