Injury-riddled Rancho Cotate boys soccer team holds off Windsor 1-0

Despite a depleted roster and a team that hasn’t been able to avoid the injury bug this season, the Rancho Cotate boys soccer team was able to edge out Windsor in a competitive North Bay Oak League contest 1-0 on Friday night at Windsor.

Coach Nick Rogers said the Cougars (4-4-3, 1-1-2 NBL-Oak) were able to avoid having anyone get hurt in a game for one of the first times this season. A team that started with 24 players has been whittled down to 14 after numerous injuries plagued the squad through it first 11 games of the season.

“This has been a very unlucky year for the boys,” Rogers said. “We’ve been through the struggles.”

But the letdown of a year that hasn’t been in favor or Rancho this year broke in their favor thanks to a late unassisted goal by Alex Sandoval in the 64th minute. Rogers said that Sandoval started from 15-20 yards outside of the box, beat two defenders, and then kicked the ball in from 20 yards out to hit the back of the net.

Rogers said his team plays an aggressive defined style that they don’t try to change for any team, despite the injuries. On Friday, he said his team’s goal was to not allow any shots on their goalie. He felt they did good job at that.

The Cougars play against Montgomery on Wednesday at 6 p.m.

Montgomery 5, Elsie Allen 0

At Elsie Allen, the Vikings used early goals from Nathan Rodriguez and Calvin Perkins, followed up by three straight goals from Zack Batchelder to cruise past the Lobos.

Montgomery (10-0-2, 3-0 NBL-Oak) played yet another game on the road after its field was all but condemned for replacement, as it was deemed unsafe early this season, according to coach Jon Schwan.

“It’s not a benefit per say, it lends itself to different challenges that you’re not used to,” he said. “We’re not going to complain about it. We know what we are in for.”

An undefeated season during a stretch of no home games doesn’t appear to leave anything up for debate on the surface, but Schwan said his team is still not playing at its peak.

“It’s always exciting having success and still having your best game ahead of you,” said Schwan, whose team will be looking toward facing Rancho Cotate next. “Everybody did something positive (Friday night), so that’s always exciting.”

Healdsburg 3, ?Santa Rosa 2

At Healdsburg, the Panthers led 2-1 in the second half, but coach Antonio Garcia said a hot crowd from the Greyhounds led to a quick two-goal comeback that left the Panthers on the losing end.

Julian Ramirez scored the Panthers first half goal and Kenny Fuentes had Santa Rosa’s second-half score.

“They (Healdsburg) played with a lot spirit, energy and a lot of fight. We left too many chances that we didn’t finish,” Garcia said.

Girls soccer

Casa Grande 3, ?Vintage 0

At Casa Grande, Sarah Ramsted scored the Gauchos’ first goal midway through the first half (assisted by Mia Santander), Jocelyn Garcia tallied four minutes after that on a free kick, and Santander added another score in the 35th minute (assisted by Megan Hanley) to stay undefeated in league.

The Gauchos (5-0-1, 9-4-1) have only not won in league against Petaluma this season, who they tied.