MINDEN - It's been eight years since the Carson girls soccer team has beaten Douglas. Fifteen games decided by two goals or less. Ten Tiger wins and five ties.
"Eventually, Carson is going to get us," Douglas coach Fred Schmidt said earlier this season.
And finally, the Senators did.
Erica Landis's first-half goal lifted Carson to a 1-0 win over Douglas, the Senators first in 16 previous attempts. Carson coach Mike Popp said that before the game that the Douglas players talked about the win streak. Then he said that the Tigers spoke too soon.
"That was our motivation," said Popp, now in his fifth year as Carson's coach. "They wanted to make them eat their words. It goes to show that you really shouldn't spout off until maybe after the game."
With the win, Carson remains undefeated at 7-0, which begs the question: Is this the best Carson team ever?
"I would say this is the best team that I've seen in a long time," Popp said. "Can we take zone? Yeah, but I don't think that far ahead right now."
Meanwhile, Douglas drops to 4-3. However, the Tigers three losses were to Reed, Galena, and Carson, arguably the top three teams in Northern Nevada. And despite Tuesday's disappointing loss, Schmidt remains upbeat about his young Tiger squad.
"I'm happy about how we played in the second half," Schmidt said. "We can't focus on the score because if we continue to play like we did in the second half, we're going to win a lot of games."
On Tuesday, it was like two different games were played. In the first half, Carson dominated and outshot Douglas 19-5. Then in the second, the Tigers controlled play and outshot the Senators 16-5. But in the end, Landis's goal, which came from an Erin Stieber pass as the first half was winding down, was the decisive play. Landis didn't care who scored. She just wanted to win.
"We want to beat everyone," the junior said. "But we especially want to beat Douglas because they're our rivals and we've always had it out for them."
Carson's defense, led by stopper Sarah Carmona and goalie Krissy Rose, got the Senators their third shut out victory of the season.
In the past eight years, including Carson's 1998 zone championship season, Douglas has somehow always managed to beat or tie the Senators. Popp thinks he knows why.
"The biggest thing that I've seen, even when Carson had the better teams, was that in past years, it was a mental thing," Popp said. "Douglas always played a good mental game."
But on Tuesday Douglas was inferior to Carson, even if for one game. And Schmidt's prediction earlier in the season came true. Carson would beat Douglas.
"Usually Carson brings out the best in us," Schmidt said. "But in the first half half, I guess they did not. In the second half, they did."
