RENO - The opportunities were plentiful, but Carson High's girls soccer team just couldn't finish.
Despite outshooting Galena by more than a 2-for-1 margin (23-9), The Senators came up empty on the scoreboard and dropped a 2-0 decision to the Grizzlies in the third-place game at the NIAA 4A Regional Tournament Saturday at Damonte Ranch High School.
It was a disappointing end to the season. Carson, the regular-season champion and No. 1 seed out of the Sierra League, finished 13-2-4. The Senators went 1-2 in the post-season. Galena. meanwhile, improved to 16-5-2 overall and qualified for next week's state tournament.
"It was a good season," Carson coach Randy Roser said. "We came out of it with a leag"ue championship. We payed two tough games here. It was a good year.
"Galena played hard. It was a very physical game. With Galena, you have to play passive on defense because they like to play the long ball through. The last three goals we gave up (this season) were scrums in the box."
That's how Galena took a 1-0 lead. The Grizzlies had a corner kick and the ball was put into the 18-yard area. Carson's defenders were unable to clear it out. Sara Lancaster came up and blasted the ball by Carson goalie Kenzie Tillitt, who had no chance to stop the shot.
"She (Lancaster) got a good foot on it," Galena coach Ron Jones said. "There was no question the ball was going in."
Three minutes earlier, a Carson player headed the ball toward the goal only to see Austen Vorhees deflect it over the crossbar. Vorhees finished with 10 saves.
"Austen has been sensational all year, but especially the last two games," Jones said.
Carson had several other shots the rest of the first half, but only two on goal. Nicole Updegrove's direct kick sailed well over the crossbar in the 26th minute and then her header attempt approximately two minutes later was wide.
Galena, which had only four shots in the first half, got two good looks in the first nine minutes of the second half.
Barely two minutes into the second half, Emily Field was unable to get the ball out of Carson's end, and Galena's Melanie Neff fired one over the crossbar. Approximately six minutes later, Neff directed a ball to Chloe DeLong, who beat Tillitt to make it 2-0.
Carson got two good looks in the last 20-plus minutes. Samantha Fishburn fired one well over the cross bar and then Taylor Musselman hit the post with approximately two minutes left, and there wasn't a Carson player there to follow in the shot.
"Our kids played so hard," Jones said. "Our defense was solid. Carson and us is always a battle. That's how it's been the last seven years I've been here."