Douglas boys soccer blanks Douglas

By Charles Whisnand

Appeal Sports Editor

The Carson High School boys soccer team had seemed like a time bomb ready to explode. What better time to go off than against rival Douglas.

"That's what I've been looking for all year out of us," said Carson coach Nate Brigham after his team beat the Tigers 4-0 on Saturday in the inaugural boys soccer game on the FieldTurf at the renovated CHS football stadium.

Brigham said the skill of his team can't be question, but admitted he had been hoping for more fire out of his team, particularly in two recent games where the Senators were tied by Wooster 1-1 and lost to Galena 2-0.

"I was very pleased with the effort," Brigham said. "Tactically the team is solid. Tactically everything's been there."

But along with the tactics came the intensity on Saturday. "This is the hardest I've seen them get started on a challenge," Brigham said.

Carson took command from the start even when John Nuthall's quick shot was denied by Douglas goalie Ivan Gonzalez in the early going. But a short time later, Izzy Lopez scored on a shot from the left side to give Carson a 1-0 lead.

Nuthall then took over again, beating Gonzalez to the ball and sending a beautiful shot from the left side into the right side of the net to give the Senators a 2-0 lead. The lead could have been bigger at halftime, but Blake Moreland missed on a shot from the left side off the left post and Adam Updegrove's shot from 30 yards out bounced off the crossbar.

Early in the second half, the Senators missed on another chance after Cyrill Soto sent a free kick forward to Brady Roser, who took a shot that went off the crossbar. It appeared that Miguel Camacho scored off the rebound, but Carson was called offside on the play.

The Tigers were able to stay within striking distance for much of the second half before Soto sent a ball forward to Ian Gunn, who scored to give Carson a 3-0 lead. Camacho then scored from the left side, sending a short into the right corner of the net for the final margin, although the Senators weren't done. Gunn almost scored again, but Gonzalez got just enough of the shot and the ball bounced off the crossbar.

Douglas coach Milko Vasquez said his relatively young team continues to be plagued by tentative play.

"It's just one thing we continue to have happen in the back," said Vasquez about his team's lapses.

But he also said he wants his team to become more aggressive.

"We played way too much defense instead of trying to close the attack," said Vasquez about his team sitting back on defense. It's been a self-fulfilling prophecy. We have some issues to deal with. It's part of a maturity issue or the lack thereof. Nobody really played well."

Vasquez tried moving his players around in an attempt to provide for some more firepower, including moving around his top offensive weapon in Edgar Arceo. But while Arceo did everything he could and got several shots off, nothing really worked. The only other player to take a shot for Douglas was Ross Gardner.

Carson's Brandon Briggs needed to make just two saves in posting the shutout. A big reason why was the play of defenders Brian Duran, Luis Aguiar, Jorge Guevara, Nate Inge and Nik Marsh.

"They all performed very, very well," Brigham said.

Among others who took shots for Carson (4-1-1 in the Sierra League) were Duran, Soto, Adam Updegrove and Inge.

CHS JVS 2, DOUGLAS 1

Jason Martinez and Luis Camacho scored for Carson (8-0 overall, 6-0 in league). Victor Romo assisted on one of the goals.