Carson soccer: Boys win, near Sierra League title; girls draw, clinch playoff berth

Nevada Appeal Staff Report

The Carson Senators boys soccer team moved one step closer to the Sierra League championship on Saturday, taking a 3-1 win over Fallon at Churchill County High School.

John Nuthall's header on a Blake Moreland corner kick in the 50th minute and Adam Updegrove's 15th goal of the season in the 70th minute put the game away for the Senators.

Carson moved to 10-1-1 in league play (12-1-1 overall) and remains five points ahead of Wooster, which moved into second place with a 4-0 win over Galena. The Grizzlies fell to third place.

The Senators must win one of its final two games " against Douglas on Wednesday or South Tahoe on Saturday " to win their third consecutive Sierra League championship.

Carson has already assured itself of a spot in the upcoming Northern 4A Regional playoffs. The Northern 4A champion will be the only team to advance to the Class 4A State Championships to be held in Las Vegas.

First-year Carson head coach Nate Brigham said he would rather close the season by playing higher-seeded teams headed into the postseason.

"I'm excited about it," Brigham said about playing the Tigers and Vikings in the Senators' last two regular-season games. "Last year we played North Valleys and Damonte Ranch. Not to take away anything away from those teams, but it's tough going into the playoffs when you have two (games against lower-ranked teams). We prefer having two tough games going into the playoffs."

Though his team came away with a victory against the Greenwave, Brigham wasn't exactly ready to dance a jig.

Said Brigham: "On Wednesday we played our best game of the year against Galena " hands down. Today's game was lackluster at best. Fallon was a completely different team than when we played them the first time."

Nonetheless, Carson was able to rest starting goalkeeper Brandon Briggs and Ryan Lee played in his place. Ian Gunn scored on an Izzy Lopez assist in the third minute to give the Senators a lead they'd never surrender.

The Senators led 1-0 at halftime.

Brigham said it's no secret whom the Senators would like to beat to notch their league championship.

"The boys are hoping to do it at Douglas," said Brigham before adding a proviso. "Douglas is fighting for the fourth and last playoff spot. Once you're there, anything can happen."

CARSON GIRLS 2, FALLON 2

Does anyone have any duct tape they can lend Carson girls coach Randy Roser? How about some confetti?

At this point, Roser could use a bit of both.

Behind the heroic play of a hobbled Brenda Luquin, who came off the bench with an injury to replace yet another injured Senator, Carson was able to salvage the draw with the Greenwave Saturday at Fallon High School.

The Senators played without Brandi Vega, who was on her official visit at Washington State to whom she recently gave a verbal commitment. But at least Vega isn't injured, unlike several other Senators, such as goalkeeper Jen Johnson, who was out with an unspecified problem with her meniscus, Samantha Fishburn, who will undergo surgery on her anterior cruciate ligament on Oct. 27, and Krissy Kane, who has an ankle injury.

Taylor Musselman also played injured for the Senators, who will receive some good news when they return to practice on Monday: Damonte Ranch defeated Manogue, 3-1, to give the Senators (6-4-2 in league, 8-4-2 overall) the fourth and final playoff spot in the upcoming Northern 4A Regional playoffs.

"That will definitely build them up," said Roser, who didn't find out about the Miners' victory until after his players had left for the day. "They left today thinking they'd have to give it everything they had in the last two games (against Douglas and South Tahoe) to make the playoffs. It will be a booster for them Monday morning."

With Carson trailing 2-1, it was Luquin who gave the Senators the boost they needed against Fallon.

"I told Brenda, 'Go in, get it done and I'll get you back out,'" Roser said. "She drove through the whole defense and put it in. I took her out. She was crying."

Musselman, also nursing a bum ankle, came into the game and drew a penalty kick, but was unable to finish it.

"We had (the penalty kick) and some open nets and just panicked, but we held on," Roser said. "We didn't play very well in the first half. We have 14 players. I had to come up with some creative verbiage at halftime to get the girls to understand. They were flat. They thought they had it won."

Midfielder/forward Kate Schulz filled in for Johnson and the Senators had to rally early. Emily Field took a Megan Jackson feed to tie it 1-1 in the 33rd minute. Carson "totally took it" to Fallon in the second half, but Fallon scored in the 50th minute to take the lead.

Roser said Johnson's injury has improved some, but even though she was able to warm up, she couldn't go in. Roser said he's hoping to get Schulz back into her regular slot and try and fill Johnson's slot if she can't go.

"We'll be about 80-percent healthy (for zone)," Roser said before getting the news of Damonte's win over Manogue. "It's a heart issue; (it's about) if we have the heart to get it done."

With some heart and some help, the Senators got it done after all.

CARSON GIRLS JV 7, FALLON 2

Aaron Rumbaugh and Eliza Matley each scored two goals as Carson improved to 10-2. Katie McFarren, Jill Truesdell and Mia Vargas each added a goal. Jessica Klein and Ali Fleming shared time in goal for the Senators.