Carson boys soccer beats Hug

It's no longer a given for any boys soccer team to pick up a Sierra League win on the road against Hug.

And with the conditions the way they were on Saturday, the Carson High boys soccer team couldn't take anything for granted. The Senators overcame the conditions and Hug in a 3-0 win on Saturday.

Carson finds itself in sole possession of first place for the time being as South Tahoe and Reno High battled to a 1-1 tie. Carson (2-0-1) is ahead of South Tahoe (2-0-2), Douglas and Wooster (3-1) and Reno (1-1-1).

The field conditions were extremely wet due to a heavy rainstorm and the conditions were windy. With Hug's small field, Saturday's game was also a physical one.

"It was just tough to play in," said Carson coach Jason Koop about the conditions. "It made for a very physical game."

In Hug, Carson also beat a team that lost to South Tahoe 3-0 and was edged at home by Douglas 3-2.

The two teams battled to a scoreless first half tie as both teams had five shots. Adam Updegove had a chance to score in the first 15 minutes after he was fouled in the goal box, but he couldn't convert the penalty kick. That seemed to swing the momentum. "That gave Hug some life," Koop said. "They came at us pretty hard after that."

But Carson scored in the first 10 minutes of the second half when Updegrove scored off of an assist from Brady Roser. Two minutes later, Drew Good scored on an assist from Roser.

Three minutes later, Hug received a red card which gave Carson a man advantage for virtually the rest of the game. With one minute left, Nik Marsh scored on an assist from Uriel Duran for the final margin. But Carson was also called taunting after the goal, causing it to lose its man advantage at the end of the game.

Carson played without starting defender Drew Heller, who was out with a hip injury. Koop said John Nuthall, who moved from midfield back to defense, did a good job filling in.

"Defensively as a team we played very well," Koop said. "Under the conditions I'm happy with the way we played. I think we're coming together as a unit."

DOUGLAS 3, DAMONTE RANCH 0

Douglas (9-2) broke a scoreless tie at halftime on its way to the win. Ross Gardner scored on an assist from Eddie Vega, Robbie Forest scored off of a corner kick by Edgar Arceo and Antoine Van den Bulke scored on an assist from Gardner.

Goalie Ivan Gonzalez made three saves to post the shutout. Christian Salazar, Timo Loullgen and Ben Wood also all played well for Douglas. "They did what I asked them to do," said Douglas coach Milko Vasquez about his team.