Carson's Kiahna Pimental moves the ball against Hug on Saturday.
RENO — Carson High’s soccer team fired the first salvo, but Hug won the battle.
The Hawks’ Javier Monreal scored in the 77th minute to snap a 1-all tie and give Hug a 2-1 season-opening win over the Senators on Saturday afternoon at Rollins Stallworth Field.
Carson played without four starters (violation of schools rules), including two starters on the back line, and that played a role in the game-winning goal.
Monreal split two Carson defenders, ran onto the ball, and beat Carson’s Gustavo Villagrana. The Hawks had five shots on goal in the last 40 minutes to just a single shot by Carson.
Despite the loss, Mehdi Samii was pleased with his team.
“I’m really happy,” Samii said. “We have so many young players, I thought the team did a fantastic job. The game could have ended this way even if we’re at full strength. Hug is a very good team and they will be in the playoffs. We had a couple of young back line players playing their first varsity game. We have to get our timing down.”
The Senators will be without their suspended players for four games, and it’s imperative that Carson gets at least a split in those games.
Carson took a 1-0 lead in the second minute when Cristian Hernandez was pulled down in the penalty box. Hernandez picked himself up, and then blasted his PK into the left corner of the net. Carson only managed three shots the entire first half. Hernandez missed wide left as did Daniel Limon. Other than that. Carson wasn’t able to generate a lot of offense against the Hawks.
Hug evened the game in the 53rd minute when Eric Figueroa headed on a corner kick, tying the contest at 1.
JV: Carson won 3-2 thanks to two goals by Jaime Saldana and one by Ramon Rojas.
GIRLS
The Carson girls got two goals apiece from Jaime Perez, Kiahna Pimental, Samantha Gutierrez and Chantel Torres en route to a lopsided 13-0 season-opening win over the Hawks.
The Senators outshot the Hawks 27-3. Josilyn Daggs, Lindsay Hettrick, Julie Tores, Mayra Oliveras and Katherine Leist added a goal apiece.
“It was good to get outside and get some work in,” said CHS coach Greg Lehman. “We’ve been cooped up because of the bad air. I saw some things that we need to tighten up for next week.”
The lopsided win allowed Lehman to empty his bench, which is nice to do early in the season when physical stamina is in question because of the lack of outdoor practices.
JV: Carson dominated the JV game, winning 11-0. Nahim Gutierrez, Mallory Otto and Molly Otto each scored twice for the Senators.