Carson boys soccer beats Douglas

MINDEN - The Carson-Douglas boys' soccer game Saturday was every bit the exciting, physical and intense matchup one would expect from the two Sierra League rivals in their league opener.

But when the battle was over at Douglas High School, it was the Senators who walked out with a 3-1 win and ended the Tigers' opening winning streak at six.

Carson took it to Douglas, forcing goalkeeper Andrew Andraski to make 12 saves on 23 shots and Enrique Mendoza scored two goals as Carson moved to 3-0 overall, 1-0 in the Sierra League.

"We were psyched," said Mendoza, a senior left midfielder who opened the scoring in the 5th minute after knifing through several Douglas defenders. "We always look forward to playing Douglas. They're a good team. We look forward to proving we're No. 1."

Nicknamed "Cheeks," Mendoza, who has played soccer since he was 3, proved as elusive as a waterbug, skittering around on both ends of the ball and put the game away with his second goal - this one in the 66th minute -which gave Carson the two-goal lead.

Christian Volker broke a 1-1 in the 49th minute, beating backup goalie Andraski from the right side. Neither Carson nor Douglas had their starting goalkeepers.

Mendoza, who scored seven goals and had 12 assists last year for the Senators, caught Andraski off-guard from the left side for his second goal of the game.

"I was open on the wing and cut in at the last second," said Mendoza who ran across the field in celebration to the Carson student section, much to their delight. "On that second goal the near post should be covered," said third-year Douglas coach Milko Vasquez, whose Tigers fell to 6-1 overall, 0-1 in the Sierra League. "Mostly (the goal) was because we were playing our backup goalie. That evened it up."

Third-year Carson coach Jason Koop grew a little emotional when his backup goalkeeper - Ryan Lee - surrendered a goal to Douglas' Oscar Gonzalez, whose shot found its way through Lee's hands and legs in the 7th minute, prompting Koop to launch his water bottle in frustration.

"I'm an ex-goalkeeper. I understand what it's like," Koop said. "It was hard for me to take. I told him in the second half he'd have to step it up."

Which Lee and the rest of his team - both offense and defense - did. Lee recorded one save on seven Douglas shots.

Although he didn't score, Carson's Zach Weismann had his head in the game - quite frequently and quite literally. Weismann had three first-half shots and in the second half tried two headers, one which went wide and one which Andraski saved from going in.

"We worked hard," Mendoza said. "We were all looking forward to our first league game. It paid off. It was mostly a team effort."

Koop was quick to give credit to the rest of the team, but he also reserved some praise for Mendoza, who had two other shots on goal and had two other close crossing passes to teammates.

"He's got great skill," Koop said of Mendoza. "He's one of the team captains. He's very versatile. We put him where we like. He's a great shot. His feet are tremendously quick. He's fast - he beats people to the ball. His workrate is tremendous."

The same could be said for the rest of the Senators, who played aggressively and with enthusiasm.

"I felt we had the run of play today," Koop said. "They came back at us after the first half. It's Carson-Douglas. I thought the last 20 minutes our fitness showed. Milko will have them (ready) the next time we see them. They'll be much improved. They're young. They play a lot of sophomores and didn't have their starting keeper."

Vasquez said his team got away from its game plan.

"Basically, I think we started playing their game," Vasquez. "We run the triangle offense and make triangular passes. We went away from it. Their game is from the up and down position. We played to their momentum, their tempo. You can't do that (play the triangle) for three, four weeks in practice and then play that way."

Vasquez said he has seven underclassmen on his team, including a freshman and six sophomores. He also said there are other priorities before a rematch with the Senators.

"Our league is tough," Vasquez said. "Before Carson we have to concern ourselves with the South Tahoes and Woosters."

For Carson, it's on to Hug next. The Senators will play the Hawks at Hug Wednesday at 3 p.m. He will be hoping for the same kind of defense and offense he had against the Tigers.

"Mats (Boehnke, who had several shots on goal from beyond the midfield mark) and little John (Nuthall) did real well. Andrew Hill, Drew (Heller), Nic Marsh, those guys communicated well together and kept the pressure off the goalkeeper. It's team defense, not just five or six guys in the midfield working."