Forward Isabella Wakeling controls the ball against McQueen on Tuesday.
Simply put, Carson High sophomore Isabella Wakeling is tearing it up.
Wakeling scored her second hat trick of the season to lead Carson to an easy 5-1 win over McQueen in a crossover match Tuesday night at the Jim Frank Track & Field Complex.
Carson swept all the High Desert teams, and takes an unbeaten mark into Saturday’s Sierra League opener against Damonte Ranch. The match at CHS starts at 11 a.m.
Wakeling has scored in five straight matches and has a team-leading nine goals.
Wakeling has become a key offensive cog in the Carson machine, and after a non-descript freshman season, she’s making her presence felt.
“I feel like as a freshman, people (CHS teammates) underestimated me and didn’t try to find me,” said Wakeling, who admitted she has never had two hat tricks in a season in club or high school ball. “This year we’ve come out strong. It’s a new group of girls.
“I’m playing a new position. I’m in the middle this year where I was a winger last year. Coach Greg (Lehman) has given me some good tips on how to get better angles.”
Lehman said chemistry is a big key for his team this year.
“We have a good group of player; nobody is being selfish,” Lehman said.
“Everybody gets opportunities. With Lindy (Lehman), Melissa (Glanzmann) and Julie (Torres) in the middle they are creating opportunities, and Isabella has done a good job of finding the holes and finishing.”
McQueen is supposed to be the class of the High Desert, yet Carson sliced and diced the Lancers, scoring three goals within the first 25 minutes of the match. The first of Wakeling’s three goals came on a long through ball from Valerie Sue Meyer. After a goal by Nahim Gutierrez, Wakeling scored off an assist by Lauren Hudak to make it 3-0. Meyer, missed Saturday’s game because of a prior commitment, finished with a goal and the aforementioned two assists.
Her presence after a year off because of a knee injury has been huge.
“Obviously she’s a strong player,” Lehman said. “She is just a good, coachable player. She works well with this group.”
“It’s been great having Valerie Sue back on the team,” Wakeling said. “She is a good defensive player, and she has strong leg.”
McQueen’s Cynthia Rodriguez made it 3-1 when she scored a minute into the second half.
That goal seemed to wake Carson up.
The Senators, over the next 15 minutes had a couple of good looks but weren’t able to finish.
In the 19th minute, after getting a pass from Meyer, Wakeling ripped one that hit the right post and bounced in. Hat trick accomplished, courtesy of a pass from Meyer.
“You do think about it (getting a hat trick),” Wakeling said. “You get one goal and then you get another, and then you have to go for it if you get the opportunity. The team did a good job of getting passes to me.”
Meyer capped the scoring with a nice sliding shot from about 25 yards.
• In JV action, McQueen rolled to a 5-0 win over the Senators, who have lost two straight.