Edgar Gomez got the extra opportunity he was looking for and made good on it when he rolled a short shot into the net in the final two minutes to lift Carson High past Damonte Ranch 1-0 in Sierra League boys soccer action on Saturday.
Mats Boehnke chipped the ball from about 40 yards out into the box, where Gomez beat two defenders to the ball and pushed the ball past the goalkeeper to break a scoreless tie for Carson (3-0 league, 4-1-1 overall).
"Edgar did a great job to get to the ball and get it into the back of the net," Carson coach Jason Koop said. "He had two defenders crawling all over him, and he still got to it. And once he did that, all he had to do was give the ball a little pace. It was like a little soft pass."
It was a matter of redemption for Gomez, who had missed one-on-one shots against the Damonte Ranch goalkeeper earlier in the contest.
"That was big for Edgar because he missed a couple of opportunities where it was just him and the keeper," Koop added. "So he was glad he could get another shot at it."
The Senators were especially happy to win a game in which they outshot Damonte Ranch 18-3. Carson didn't allow a shot in the second half.
"After controlling the match the way we did, the kids felt it should have been a little easier," Koop said. "But we'll take the win and we'll take the three points (in the standings). As close as our league is, we need every point we can get."
Carson visits North Valleys for a league match on Wednesday.
DOUGLAS 6, NORTH VALLEYS 1
After giving up an early score, the Douglas Tigers roared back with six unanswered goals en route to their Sierra League victory.
North Valleys took a 1-0 lead on a shot that deflected off a Douglas defender into the net in the third minute. Douglas didn't stay down for long, as Mike Gransbery scored off an assist from Brendan Carlson in the ninth minute. Two minutes later, Martin Rubio converted a penalty kick to give the Tigers a 2-1 lead.
David Sturgess supplied some cushion two minutes before halftime when he recovered a loose ball near midfield and drove down to score a goal to make it 3-1. Michael Barnes scored four minutes into the second half, assisted by Gransbery; Geoff Rahe scored in the 68th minute; and Chris Aguilar, the Tigers' goalkeeper, came out on the field and put in a goal with six minutes left.
"We had a tough break early, but the kids kept their composure," Douglas coach Milko Vasquez said. "I thought we played exceptionally well, especially in the second half."
Douglas (2-1 league, 7-2-1) benefited from solid performances on defense by Justin Grimm and Justin Norvell because goalkeepers Aguilar and Steve Done only had to face 10 shots. Meanwhile, the Tigers got off 31 shots, aided by the distribution of forward Eddie Vega.
The Tigers host South Tahoe in a key league match on Wednesday.
GIRLS
The Carson girls soccer team had to overcome two costly mistakes at the start and not the best field conditions for a come-from-behind 3-2 win at Damonte Ranch on Saturday.
"Definitely the worst field in the area," said Carson coach Randy Roser, whose team improved to 3-0 in the Sierra League. "It was a tough match. To me it's unfair to either team."
The field is 70 percent dirt and because of that has to be watered down, making for rough conditions.
"The field was just horrendous," Roser said. "It was just an ugly game of soccer and frustrating for the team."
Damonte took advantage of two mistakes to take a 2-0 lead. Danielle Benamati scored to help Carson close to 2-1 at halftime.
Carson went on to dominate the second half.
"We were pretty much in control of the game," Roser said.
But the Senators didn't take the lead until there were five minutes left when Kasey Cano scored her second goal of the half on an assist from Brandi Vega. The two had connected earlier when Vega assisted on Cano's goal that tied the game.
DAYTON 4, LOWRY 0
Ashley Winter scored three goals and Dayton's girls posted their first-ever win against Lowry in a match played Friday in Winnemucca.
"We've been close before - we lost 1-0 and 2-0 last year and tied them the year before - but this is the first time we've beaten them," coach Tim Logan said.
Winter scored Dayton's first three goals and Leah Kennedy had the fourth.
Goalkeeper Stephanie Shoup had nine saves in the shutout.
CARSON JV GIRLS
Katarina Von Rumpf scored twice, while Ashleen Stocke and Natalie Birba added one goal each as the Senators defeated Damonte Ranch 4-0.
Stocke opened the scoring with a goal in the 11th minute.
Von Rumpf scored twice within a three-minute span shortly before halftime, the second on a shot that deflected off a defensive player.
Birba had the final goal with four minutes left to play.
Goalkeeper Natalie Mathat was credited with the shutout, aided by a defense that allowed only one shot on goal.
Danielle Rumbaugh also turned in a solid performance from her center midfield position for Carson (2-2 overall).
DOUGLAS JV BOYS
Five players scored for Douglas in its 5-0 win against North Valleys.
Andrew Andraski, Carlos Cordova, Kyle Gardner, Nick Hales and Fabian Ramos had goals.
Scott Bassham helped the defense pitch its shutout.