Carson senior Abel Sanchez chases the ball in Manogue territory Wednesday at Bishop Manogue High School in Reno.
RENO — Rogelio Herrera is on a scoring tear.
Herrera recorded his second consecutive hat trick to lead the Carson High boys soccer team to an easy 7-0 win over Bishop Manogue in a Sierra League match Wednesday afternoon at Nancy Sweet Memorial Field.
Carson improved to 9-1 overall, and will have just one day of rest before hosting archival Douglas Friday at 7 p.m. at the Jim Frank Track & Field Complex.
Carson coach Mike Alvarez believes it’s the first time a Carson player has recorded hat tricks in consecutive games since he came into the program.
Herrera is the team’s leading scorer, and whether you play him at front or midfield, he’s able to find the back of the net and he does it with his trademark smile.
“With Rogelio, it’s skill,” Alvarez said. “He is extremely skilled, and he’s a finisher.”
Herrera is like the energizer bunny on the field. He’s constantly on the move; no standing around for this guy. He has a nose for the ball.
“I really come to the ball,” Herrera said. “I try to create opportunities.”
And, against the lesser-skilled Miners, there were plenty of opportunities. Unofficially, Carson outshot Manogue, 29-2, and most of Carson’s shots were between the pipes. It easily could have been a double-digit scoring day for the Senators.
Herrera started the scoring in the third minute, beating Manogue keeper Jackson Guzzo.
“The ball went out to the corner, I got it and shot it with my left foot,” Herrera said.
The Senators got off two shot before Abel Sanchez found the left corner in the 15th minute to make it 2-0. Then it was Herrera again off a Jon Limon assist a minute later to make it 3-0.
“I took it at midfield and cut into the middle to score,” Herrera said.
At that point, the game slowed down because Alvarez went liberally to the bench. As expected, shots weren’t as plentiful and ball movement wasn’t crisp. That happens a lot when a team jumps out to an early lead, and while Alvarez was a tad disappointed at the lack of offense his subs produced, it wasn’t a surprise.
“We had mass substitutions at the 20-minute mark, and the game got a little sloppy,” Alvarez said. “At the start of the second half we went back to the starters to get control back.”
The Senators continued their dominant performance in the second half. Oscar Ventura, who sat out last game because of a red card against Wooster, scored the first of his two goals in the 45th minute off an assist from Sanchez to make it 4-0.
Carson added three more scores in the last 17 minutes, one more from Ventura, Herrera, and Sanchez.
Herrera’s last score came off a through ball, and he chipped it over the Manogue keeper.
Simply put, it was an easy day for the Senators.
“They are a young team and play with a lot of heart,” Alvarez said, referring to the Miners. “You can tell there is a difference in technique and skill level and ultimately it showed in the final score.
“We tried to play every available player on the bench to give them some playing time. I was pleased with the way Oscar played. He had two goals in his first game back. It was a great effort.”
Neither Alvarez or Herrera seemed concerned about playing on a short rest. Alvarez said he plans on a light workout today (Thursday).
“It isn’t an issue,” Alvarez said. “We had one minor injury (Limon). Other than that we came out of the game healthy.”
“We’ll be fine,” Herrera said.
* IN JV action, Carson got four goals from Brandon Sevilla and three from Eddie Porter en route to an easy 14-0 victory.
Douglas boys fall
MINDEN — Damonte Ranch took advantage of a defensive mistake in the first 15 minutes and that was the difference as the Mustangs beat Douglas (7-5-3, 3-5-2) 1-0.
“Outside of that mental mistake, I thought it was an event game,” Douglas coach Milko Vasquez.
Vasquez also said his team had its share of scoring opportunities.
“We just simply could not finish,” he said.
VOLLEYBALL
Manogue stops Tigers in 4
RENO — Manogue remained undefeated in northern Nevada play with a 25-8, 25-18, 23-25 and 25-20 win over Douglas Tuesday night.
Douglas drops to 6-3.
Talyn Jackson had 23 assists and five blocks for the Tigers, Isabelle Peterson registered 10 kills, Aubrey Caires had eight kills and Ashley Campagna seven.
Alex Demaranville contributed a team-high 24 digs.