Carson and South Tahoe are invariably at or near the top of the Sierra League standings in girls soccer on a yearly basis.
The Senators tuned up for Saturday's first-place showdown with the Vikings by pounding North Valleys 6-0 Tuesday night at Carson High School.
The win puts Carson at 3-0-1, and the Vikings dropped to 3-0-1 after a 3-3 tie with Douglas. The showdown begins at 3 p.m.
Carson swept the Vikings last year by the barest of margins, winning both matches 1-0.
"I'm looking forward to a good match," Carson coach Randy Roser said. "They are a tough, physical team; always have been. They tied Douglas and gave up three goals which means they can be scored on."
A plus for Carson is that it's a home game on the Senators big, wide field. South Tahoe, according to Roser, has one of the smallest fields in the league.
"When you play on a small field it comes down to physical strength," Roser said. "We train for tight spaces and move the ball quickly. On a wider field, that's where fitness comes in.
"This is a different group. They just play game to game. They aren't looking at the end. It's not even registering (that we play South Tahoe next)."
Translation. It means Carson didn't look past North Valleys even though the Senators emptied their bench throughout the contest.
Carson outshot North Valleys 33-3, and it could have been a lot worse. Carson missed at least three shots from point-blank range.
"We have nine underclassmen," Roser said. "Anytime you can put them on the field for significant minutes to learn our style of play, it's good. As we head into the second half of league and zone, it increases our depth."
The one disappointing thing for Roser is that it took a while for his team to recognize and adapt to North Valleys' defensive strategy. The Panthers brought their entire back line up to midfield, and in the first 11 minutes of the contest, Carson was whistled for being off side three times at least.
"I was frustrated because they weren't seeing it," Roser said. "Once we played a through ball and scored they've got to change that strategy."
Carson had two great scoring chances in that span. Ann Sinnott put one over the crossbar in the fifth minute and Brandi Vega missed the net after a nice offering from Kayla Sanchez.
In the 14th minute, the Senators finally broke through when Becca Kane scored.
That seemed to wake the Senators out of their doldrums. Carson scored twice over then next eight minutes for a 3-0 lead.
The first was an own goal when Danielle Moos' corner kick bounced off a NV player and into the net in the 22nd minute. Less than a minute later, Sanchez scored on a breakaway.
Moos and Vega scored in the 27th and 29th, respectively, to make it 5-0. Helaine Berris capped the scoring with a goal in the 39th minute.
Carson's defense turned up the pressure, limiting the Panthers to only three shots on goal thanks to the efforts of Michelle Fleming, Anna Macquaire and Brandy Cantley.
CARSON JV 8, NORTH VALLEYS 0
Emily Field scored all four of her goals in the first 17 minutes of the game to lead the undefeated Senators (5-0) to an easy win.
Dana Foltz, Julianne King and Samantha Fishburn scored the other Carson goals. The Senators also added a score on an own goal by the Panthers.
Fishburn, King and Maria Garcia played solid defense for Carson. The Senators used three keepers in the win - Garcia, Ashley Turner and Danica Sheldon.