On the scoreboard, it showed up as a 3-3 tie. As far as the Carson Senators were concerned, it was a heartbreaker that ended their hopes of winning the Sierra League girls soccer championship.
Reno's Mary Skau broke loose to score a goal in the 80th minute as the Huskies rallied to salvage a 3-3 tie that dropped Carson to third-place in the league standings on a frigid Saturday afternoon.
Carson is now 7-2-2 (23 points) with one game remaining on the regular season schedule. Meanwhile, Douglas (9-2-0, 27 points) clinched the league title with a 10-0 win against Wooster on Saturday and South Tahoe (8-3-1, 25 points) ended its regular season Saturday with a 3-0 win over Hug.
Danielle Benamati scored two goals and assisted on another as the Senators bolted to leads of 2-1 and 3-2 in their Senior Day contest. In the end, it wasn't enough.
"We did not come out prepared to play in the second half," Carson coach Randy Roser said. "We got away from our offense, we started playing long ball and we weren't getting the ball to anyone. That's not our game."
Reno had eight shots on goal and four corner kicks in the second half. By comparison, the Senators had two shots in the second half, one on a free kick.
Roser and the Senators argued with officials that they should have had one more shot - a penalty kick late - after Morgan Beam was taken down inside the box away from the ball. They didn't get the call.
"The frustrating things was that they (field referee and linesman) didn't communicate with each other on making a call, and it cost us," Roser said.
Instead, Reno had possession of the ball on a goal kick and the Huskies were able to capitalize by getting the ball downfield to Skau. The junior, who scored twice in Reno's 2-1 win over Douglas earlier this season, beat one defender with a move to her right then struck a grounder past goalkeeper Allie Otto for the equalizer.
Skau scored the game's first goal in the second minute when she took the ball on a long run down the middle of the field and put in a one-on-one shot.
Carson answered in the eighth minute when Benamati ran down a long pass from Katy Davis, beat two defenders and buried a shot to make it 1-1.
Carson went on top in the 16th minute after Cassie Bowman fed a pass downfield to Sarah Stalling on the left side. Stalling centered the ball to Benamati, who was wide open for a shot she put in the left corner of the net.
Reno tied the score again on a left-footed shot by freshman Raimy Novacek in the 21st minute.
Then in the 28th minute, Stalling took a pass from Benamati and shot to the near post, a goal that put the Senators on top 3-2.
Carson benefited from two solid defensive plays from Ashley Briscoe, who smothered a ball and prevented the Huskies from getting a shot in the first half. Reno had another opportunity midway through the second half when Elizabeth Schuster grounded a corner kick that reached the far post before Briscoe cleared it out without any harm done.
Reno outshot Carson 12-8 in the game.
This marked the second time Carson and Reno tied this season. The two teams battled to a 1-1 deadlock on Sept. 25.
"It was a very good game," Reno coach Joe Mavis said. "I'm very happy. To come away with two ties against Carson; you have to give Carson credit. They're our benchmark."
DOUGLAS 10, WOOSTER 0
Christina Bradshaw scored four goals as the Tigers cruised to their third straight shutout victory and clinched first-place in the process.
For sophomore goalkeeper Hillary Winans, the shutout was her ninth of the season.
Allison Chapman scored two goals and two assists for Douglas, while Morgan LeFever added one goal and assisted on two others. Sophomores Skylar Young and Samantha Perry scored their first varsity goals, while Savannah Gray scored for the Tigers.
Douglas has had 17 different players score this season, four of whom have reached double digits. Bradshaw leads the team in scoring with 18.
Contact Dave Price at dprice@nevadaappeal.com or call 881-1220.
Sierra League
Douglas9-2-027
So. Tahoe8-3-125
Carson7-2-223
Reno5-4-217
TUESDAY
Hug at North Valleys, 3 p.m.
Reno at Wooster, 3 p.m.
Douglas at Carson, 7 p.m.