Sparks-Except for a 2-1 loss to Reno, the Carson High girls soccer team hasn't trailed all season, until Thursday night. Reed's Sierra Malan scored all three goals as the Raiders upset the Senators 3-1 in the zone semifinals at Reed.
Carson came in as the tournament favorite after finishing as Sierra League champions with a 14-1-1 record. In the first round on Tuesday, the Senators shut out McQueen 4-0 in a game that could've been much worse. Against Reed (14-2-2), however, Carson was forced to come from behind, something that the Senators haven't had to do much this season.
"I think it was really hard on the girls because they never really had to come back and take the lead," coach Mike Popp said. "We were always on top and weren't used to being down."
In the first half, Malan put the Raiders up 1-0 just eight minutes into the game after receiving a pass from Laurie Klein.
Then at the beginning of the second half, Malan scored two goals in the first nine minutes as Reed led 3-0. In the 42nd minute, Malan scored on a break away after finishing a pass from Monica Thompson. Then in the 49th minute, Sherika Hardaway found a streaking Malan, who scored on another break away that made it 3-0. The speedy Malan caused problems the entire game for Carson, usually on breakaways.
"To us, against Allison Kop, she's (Malan) nothing," Popp said. "Allison is one of the best defenders in the whole league and unfortunately, they capitalized on a couple of breakaways."
Ali Banister brought the Senators to within 3-1 in the 65th minute with her well driven shot that landed in the upper corner of the net. Banister's goal seemed to liven up the dormant Carson offense.
In the 68th minute, midfielder Erin Stieber fired a low shot that was headed for the back of the net before Raider goalie Jennifer Mavis deflected the shot wide. Then in 73rd minute, Stieber's shot missed the goal by a few inches to the right. Stieber then had another hard shot, but it went to Mavis.
"We should've picked up it the whole game like we did in the last 15 minutes," Popp said. "They played their best game and we had an off game. And they just took advantage of it."
But Raider coach Jim Verdi had a different perspective of the game.
"We just killed them," said Verdi, who took over the team midway through the season. "It could've been six or seven to nothing."
"It was an upset," Popp said. "They played their best game and we had an off game. They just took advantage of it."
On Thursday, the Senators were looking to advance the zone finals for the third consecutive year. Carson, who beat Reed 3-2 earlier this season, finishes with a 15-2-1 record.
"I'm still proud of the girls because they did a good job," Popp said. "We had a great season."
