Douglas girls soccer outruns Senators

By Charles Whisnand

Appeal Sports Editor

The Douglas and Carson High School girls soccer teams played a game that was fitting for the opening contest at the renovated CHS football stadium.

Douglas and Carson were figuratively and literally burning up the new FieldTurf on Saturday in a back and forth contest in which players from both teams never seemed to stop running up and down the field. In the end, the Tigers prevailed 4-3 in the inaugural girls soccer game on the FieldTurf at the CHS football stadium.

Neither Douglas coach Lorraine Fitzhugh or Carson coach Randy Roser were surprised with the up-tempo style of the game.

"We knew it was always going to be a highly emotionally charged game," Fitzhugh said. "This is a no-brainer for a Carson-Douglas rivalry and we're ready for it."

"A typical Carson-Douglas game," Roser said. "It's always a battle. A 3-2 type game is what we were expecting that could have gone either way."

And despite the up-tempo style of the game, neither team really wilted in the heat of the FieldTurf, which was easily in the 90s if not approaching 100 degrees at field level by game's end. Both teams were still going at it right to the end.

"Not really," said Roser on if the heat affected his team. "We're fit. I think we held up all the way through."

"I knew that I would have to get fresh legs, so we did have some rotations to give people breaks," Fitzhugh said. "But our team has good fitness, so we did well."

Both teams didn't waste any time. Brandi Vega sent a ball forward to Helaine Berris, who put the ball in the right lower corner of the net to give Carson a 1-0 lead less than four minutes into the game. But Ally Freitas answered for Douglas a short time later, sending a shot from the left side into the right corner of the net to tie the score 1-1.

Then it was Vega's turn after Megan Jackson centered a pass from the left side that a Douglas defender failed to completely clear. Vega was there to gather the rebound and send a shot into the upper right corner to give Carson a 2-1 lead.

Moments later, Miriah Tompkins charged from the right side with the ball and looked like she was going to score, but she was denied by Douglas goalkeeper Brianna Randall. C.J. Baumgartner then beautifully placed a shot from 20 yards out on the right side into the net to tie the score 2-2 for the Tigers.

Carson then was able to score without its top offensive weapon in Vega in the last five minutes of the half when Roser took her out to give her a break. Natalie Stevens was able to send a shot from 25 yards out just off of Randall's finger tips and into the net to give the Senators a 3-2 lead.

But the Senators were fortunate to come away with a halftime lead after Douglas nearly scored twice in the waning moments. Carson keeper Jen Johnson made an outstanding save to punch the ball over the crossbar with her left hand on a shot by the Tigers' Kyra Barth. Dany Heidt then missed on a shot off the right post for Douglas.

Douglas continued its momentum in the second half and controlled the action for the first 20 minutes of the half. Thanks to the play of Johnson, who had 11 saves, the Tigers weren't able to take full advantage. But during that timespan, Tia Lyons was able to score twice and it was those two goals that made the difference.

Carson came back in the last 20 minutes of the half to constantly pressure Douglas, but couldn't break through. Christy Harvey, who came in to play goal in the second half for Dougals, made a fingertip save on Brenda Luquin's shot that effectively sealed the win for the Tigers.

"We were trying to string passes together," Fitzhugh said. "Actually this field is a great fit for us. A beautiful facility."

Fitzhugh said the versatility of players such as Freitas and Katie Dry has been a key to her team's success. Fitzhugh said she can constantly move players around without it negatively affecting the level of play on the field.

"We're feeling really good right now," Fitzhugh said. "We're feeling in a good rhythm right now."

Among others who helped lead Carson's offensive attack were Taylor Musselman and Samantha Fishburn. In the back, Ashley Turner and Nicole Updegrove played key roles in slowing down the Tigers' attack in the last 20 minutes.