RENO - An old nemesis jumped up and bit the Carson High School boys soccer team on Saturday afternoon in a 2-1 Sierra League loss against Reno.
Joey Hasson scored with two minutes remaining before halftime to break a 1-1 deadlock and Reno's Huskies (4-1 league) held on the rest of the way against the Senators (2-3), who have managed to score just two goals while losing each of their last three games.
Even so, the Senators showed marked improvement from their 4-1 loss against Wooster on Wednesday, according to coach Jason Koop.
"We played pretty well, I thought," Koop said. "I thought it was an evenly played match. We played well enough to win, we just didn't finish. This is three games in a row now where we've had enough opportunities to win."
Carson outshot the Huskies 21-11 during the contest and the margin was 13-4 in the second half. Carson had five shots in the final five minutes, including one attempt by Ernesto Ayala that struck the goalpost.
"We just need somebody to step up and start putting the ball in the back of the net, and if we don't get that, we're going to lose a lot of these close games," added Koop, whose Senators dropped a 1-0 decision at home against league-leading South Tahoe last Saturday.
Carson scored first when Loren Wooldridge lofted a throw-in near the goal that bounced once and was headed into the net by Royal Good in the 15th minute.
"We usually get a couple of opportunities off our throw-ins," Koop said. "We guys on both sides - both Loren and Royal - who can get the ball in the box and sometimes we can catch a team sleeping early in the game in they haven't seen us before."
The Huskies answered in the 20th minute when Hasson lined a free kick from the right side to the far post, where 6-foot-2 Casey Smith headed the ball into the net. Hasson and Smith collaborated on a similar play six minutes later, except Smith's shot caromed off the crossbar.
"That header was a good goal. He (Smith) has good size and he's a good player; we just didn't have an answer for him today," Koop said.
Carson had a chance to regain the lead five minutes later, but Reno goalkeeper Brian Shonnard made a diving stop going to his left of a shot by Enrique Mendoza.
Instead, Reno took a 2-1 lead in the 38th minute when Josh Besso crossed the ball from the right side toward the net that Hasson converted into a goal.
"We had a little lapse on that second goal. We didn't clear the ball out when we had the opportunity, but other than that, I thought we played well defensively," Koop said.
The game saw 43 penalties called (Reno 22, Carson 21) as well as six yellow cards, and a red card issued against Koop after he argued with field official Joaquin Leano that the action had gotten excessively physical. "I thought it was getting dangerous out there and I told him so," said Koop, who was issued two yellows within moments of each other.
As a result of the red card, Koop will be forced to sit out Carson's game against arch rival Douglas Wednesday afternoon in Minden.
"That's going to be a great game," Koop said. "It's a rivalry, one of those games where records don't matter because you know both teams are going to fight each other like cats and dogs."
Carson and Douglas are currently tied for fourth-place in the Sierra League with identical 2-3 records.
Contact Dave Price at dprice@nevadaappeal.com or call 881-1220.