Carson's Zach Smith dribbles the ball upfield against McQueen on Wednesday.
For the first time all season, Carson High’s boys soccer team put its best lineup on the field, and it showed.
Carson got goals from Cristian Hernandez, Carlos Alvarado and Ryan Galvan, and the defense, which was bolstered by the return of Zach Smith, stymied McQueen most of the night in a 3-1 win in a Division I crossover match at Carson High on Wednesday night.
The win was Carson’s third straight since an opening day loss to Hug. A year ago at this point, Carson was just 2-2. Carson shoots for its fourth straight win Saturday at Damonte Ranch (11 a.m.)
Carson shifted its strategy, going to a 4-1-4-1 for the first time this year.
“We switched so we can have a short passing game; control the possession better,” Carson coach Mehdi Samii said. “We needed to play with two forwards. We aren’t used to it yet. I primarily decided to use this when we play Spanish Springs, Wooster and Hug because they are extremely fast teams. It helps us control possessions. I think I’m going to stay with it. I know the score was 0-0 in the first half, but we played well; passed the ball well.
“I thought we completely outplayed them. They had trouble getting past midfield, especially in the first half. I though Zach (Smith), Adam (Shoaf), Carlos (Alvarado) and Mario (Escalante played very well.”
It was Smith’s first game of the year. He’d missed the first four games because of violating team/school rules. He didn’t show a lot of rust for not having played in a real game.
The first goal didn’t come until the 55th minute.
Hernandez, who got off four shots in a two-minute span of the second half, was dragged down in the penalty box by Casimir Bertheoumeux. Hernandez blasted the PK past the McQueen goalie for a 1-0 lead. Hernandez has scored in all four Carson games, including two penalty kicks. Galvan extended his scoring streak to three straight games seven minutes later to make it 2-0.
McQueen’s Trenton Sorge converted a penalty kick in the 63rd minute, slicing the lead to 2-1. Samii said he didn’t know exactly why McQueen was awarded a PK.
Less than five minutes later, Alvarado put the game out of reach with a beautiful goal off an assist from Angel Gomez to make it 3-1. It was Alvarado’s first goal of the year
“That was a beautiful play,” Samii said. “He always comes up on corner kicks or crosses. He’s our aerial attack guy.”
Hernandez just missed his second goal when he banged one off the crossbar in the 78th minute.
Unofficially, McQueen had just four shots on goal against Gustavo Villagrana.
“I thought we played well,” said McQueen coach Dane Meier. “We didn’t have many subs. We’ve had some injuries and illness.”
JV: Carson rolled to a 10-0 win over McQueen. Jaime Saldana, Dom Octavio-Virueta and Danny Monzo scored two goals each to lead the Senators to an easy win.