Carson junior fullbck Salvador Rodriguez (19) heads the ball Wednesday night at Carson High in a game that ended in a 3-3 tie with the Douglas Tigers.
It was a tale of two halves Wednesday night in the Carson-Douglas regular-season boys soccer finale.
Carson ended the first half with a 3-1 lead, only to see Koby Hinnant complete his hat trick with two second-half goals to give the Tigers a 3-3 tie on Senior Night at the Jim Frank Track & Field Complex.
The Senators ended the regular season with a 10-4-2, and will play at Spanish Springs Monday at 6 p.m. Douglas, which was unbeaten in its last three games, concludes its season 3-10-3.
Carson played the game with a heavy heart. Reserve goalie Jose Moreno, who was involved in an auto accident last Friday morning, was still in critical condition.
“It’s a tragedy that hits close to home,” Carson coach Mike Alvarez said. “I think it was on their minds.
“This was reminiscent of last year’s final game of the season when they tied us. I am disappointed, especially after getting that 3-1 lead. Hinnant is a very fast player, and fast with the ball.”
The second half was too much Hinnant, who scored his final two goals on Carson’s defensive breakdowns, the Senators’ inability to finish and some stellar stops by Douglas goalie Luke Heinrichs. Carson outshot Douglas 16-6.
“I moved him up top after we fell behind 2-0,” Douglas coach Milko Vasquez said. “I had to play him at sweeper. Once we got behind, we had nothing to lose. He scored right away.”
Hinnant scored his first goal in the 28th minute, answering Carlos Alvarado’s goal in the 27th minute. In the 29th minute, Rogelio Herrera scored to make it 3-1. Carson had two scoring opportunities in the next five minutes but were unable to convert.
In the 50th minute, Hinnant came on a through ball. CHS goalie Efren Ramirez came out, but Hinnant got off the shot and scored to make it 3-2.
“The defenders were out of position,” Alvarez said. “Efren came out too far.”
Five minutes later, Hinnant tied the game. The Carson back line was caught flat-footed, possibly expecting an offsides call. Hinnant fired a shot that Ramirez deflected. The ball came out front, and Hinnant pounded in the rebound.
Douglas only got one more shot on goal, and that was by Hinnant.
After that the Tigers were in “hold on” mode.
Ryan Galvan fired one in the 57th minute which Heinrichs got a hand on and deflected away. In the next nine minutes, Guillermo Hernandez was smothered on a short-side attempt, Octavio Virrueta misfired, Christian Martinez missed wide left from long range and Herrera missed high and wide.
In the 75th minute. Hernandez had the ball in the penalty box area, and whiffed. In the 73rd minute, Carson had a direct free kick. Galvan chipped one over the wall and Hernandez had his shot deflected. A minute later, Galvan’s header, off a direct free kick, missed wide left. Galvan had one more look, but couldn’t convert.
“Luke did an exceptional job,” Vasquez said.
Edgar Hernandez did a nice job marking Galvan most of the game. It was the first time Galvan had been held without a goal since a 6-1 win over Bishop Manogue earlier this month.
“I asked him to front Ryan,” Vasquez said.
“Ryan did have a couple of looks,” Alvarez said. “Ryan was negated much of the game.”
Jose Sepulveda gave Carson a 1-0 lead when he scored in the 21st minute. That seemed to wake up what was a stagnant offense.
“It was Senior Night, and we started a little slower,” Alvarez said. “Once we put our regular line-up in, we started connecting better.”
Vasquez was happy to see his team pick up another point.
“We didn’t lose in our last three games (1-0-2),” Vasquez said. “I couldn’t ask for anything more.”
FOOTBALL
CHS Frosh 26, Spanish Springs 19
Thanks to another huge game from Abel Carter and six interceptions on defense, Carson’s freshmen (5-2) avenged a 19-12 loss to Spanish Springs earlier in the season.
Carter scored all four touchdowns for Carson. Carter scored on a 20-yard run to give Carson a 6-0 lead. Carter then returned the opening kickoff of the second half 90 yards for a touchdown make it 12-0.
Carter’s third touchdown came on a 60-yard run. Damian Wallace ran it in for the two-point conversion to give Carson a 20-6 lead.
Kyle Glanzmann had one of Carson’s six interceptions and had a long return on the play to set up Carter’s 2-yard scoring run to give Carson a 26-13 lead. Richard Romero also had two interceptions and Carter, Wallace and Wyatt Rooker all had an interception for Carson.