Carson girls can't hang on, settle for a tie

For nearly 30 minutes Saturday, the Carson girls soccer team held a 1-0 lead over Sierra League rival Reno. Then in a flash its lead disappeared.

Reno's Jordan Forman supplied the flash and dash as she took a Taylor Snider pass about 40 yards and beat one Carson defender and then Senators goalkeeper Jennifer Johnson to tie it 1-1 in the 80th minute of a defensive battle at Carson High School.

Although the first-place Senators. 5-0-2 in league and 5-2-2 overall, didn't lose any ground, they didn't gain any on the Huskies, whom they will meet in Reno in the regular season finale.

"When you (the officials) continually give them calls, they're bound to get one in," said Carson coach Randy Roser, who had at least two players leave the game with injuries suffered from elbows that apparently went unseen by the officials. "When (Michelle) Fleming left, that was the third time one of our players got hit from behind. Now she probably has a concussion. We didn't get the call.

"It makes you change your style of game. Instead of dominating and continuing your attack, now you find yourself giving up one shot they finally got off at the end of the game."

Carson outshot Reno, 16-11, and looked to have the game in hand after Kayla Sanchez took a feed from Brandi Vega and booted the ball past Reno keeper Mari Monticelli for a 1-0 lead right at the 50-minute mark.

"You saw Brandi Vega and Kayla Sanchez dominate all day, getting the ball, carrying it on their own, carrying it through the middle and getting to the goal," Roser said. "But with the style Reno brings, they quickly compacted the box. You have to work hard to get it in on Reno."

The same could be said for Carson, which smothered Reno offensively until Forman tied it up. Johnson had five saves and had a lot of help both in the backfield and midfield.

But Reno, now 5-1-1 in the Sierra League (7-1-1 overall) turned it up when it had to and never gave up.

"Never. You can't give up. Only losers give up," Reno coach Rob Moreland said. "They (the Huskies) fought hard all the way. Carson has some fast girls, but Jordan's flat-out (fast)."

Moreland said he was pleased with the outcome.

"Big time. To come back against Carson is really good," he said.

Roser said he felt pretty good about the direction the game was taking.

"The first half was pretty even," Roser said. "but I thought in the second half we took control of things."

Carson outshot Reno 8-4 in the first half and in the second Johnson came up with some important saves following Sanchez's goal.

Johnson's best effort came in the 57th minute, when Reno's Parker Peterson got off a shot up close and personal on Johnson, who turned into a wall and denied her.

Reno had another shot for the tie in the 64th minute, but Carson clogged the box on Reno's corner kick and the Huskies couldn't penetrate.

Sanchez had another great opportunity for a goal in the 46th minute, but her shot went wide right.

Vega was a human highlight reel from the 65th through the 73rd minute, dribbling through numerous defenders, chewing up 10 yards at a time on each dribble and not only killing the clock, but taking four shots in that span.

In the 70th minute, Vega took the ball nearly three-quarters of the field, deked through two defenders and took a shot in the box, but Monticelli stoned her with a save, keeping Reno in the game.

Monticelli had seven saves.

"We would've liked to get the win, but we didn't give up a loss," Roser said. "The good thing is we're now in the second half of the season. Now we can focus on zone."

And Carson will start its second-half league season the same way it started off the first half: with a game against arch-rival Douglas.

The teams meet Tuesday at Carson High School, beginning at 7 p.m.

"That's where all of the kids know each other through club ball," said Roser, who won't need to motivate his team any further. "They will just come out on the field and play the game."

CARSON GIRLS JV 7, RENO JV 0

Emily Field was a one-girl wrecking machine Saturday, scoring five goals as Carson had its way with Reno, outshooting the Huskies 47-2.

Megan Jackson added a goal and an assist-as did Miriah Tompkins--in the win. Ashley Turner and Kayla Couch each added an assist and Danica Sheldon minded the net for the shutout.

Carson outshot Reno 29-0 in the first half.