Carson boys power through Damonte Ranch

A wild second half filled with five goals, three yellow cards and a number of shots on goal saw Carson boys soccer edge out a 4-3 win over Damonte Ranch Saturday.

Late in the second half, Carson's Jeter Mata ended up with the ball at his feet about four yards from the goal line.

Mata turned and booted a shot that was partially saved by the Damonte Ranch keeper, but still had enough momentum to roll over the line and into the net.

After the game, Mata admitted he didn't think his second goal was going to come to fruition.

"I did not. I just turned and shot it. ... I got lucky," said Mata.

The goal was Mata's second of the contest and turned out to be the game winner as Carson held the Mustangs off the board for the remainder of regulation.

Mata's first goal came earlier in the half on an assist from Kristian Chicas, who was on the receiving end of a through ball. Chicas flicked a perfect pass over to Mata who tapped it into the back of the net.

The two goals for Mata capped a solid day, but may not earn him any free food after a teammate recanted on an offer made at halftime.

"It was supposed to be two. They changed it to three (goals). I tried," said Mata. "Hopefully they still buy me some sushi."

Mata also had an assist on Carson's first goal of the contest, which came after the Mustangs' opened up the scoring in the first half.

A pass across the box hit the feet of Adrian Lopez Meras who buried the goal without much difficulty.

Carson's offensive prowess Saturday afternoon came with plenty of praise from the Senators' head coach postgame.

"It was huge. ... Today was pretty big. It's a weight off our backs," said Carson head coach Francisco Martinez.

Defensively, Martinez is hoping to get his starting defense back and healthy, but in the meantime wants to see more consistency from his back line.

"We've given pretty much all of our goals away," said Martinez. "We need to communicate more and work more as a unit in the back."

Carson led 3-1 at one point in the second half, but the Mustangs scored on a corner kick and a free kick to knot the contest at 3-3.

The victory also serves as Carson's first Sierra League win of the season, moving the Senators to 1-2 in league play and 4-6-1 overall.

UP NEXT: Carson will await Wooster (1-1-6, 0-0-3) at home as the Senators look to put together a winning streak in league play.