The defense delivered on both ends of the field for the Carson High School girls soccer team in its 1-0 Sierra League victory at South Tahoe on Saturday.
Not only did the Senators' defense pitch a shutout, fullback Sarah Field scored the game's only goal on a 30-yard shot in the second half of a battle between perennial playoff contenders at South Tahoe Middle School.
Carson is now 3-0-1 in league play, 5-0-1 overall for the season, while South Tahoe absorbed its second league loss.
Give credit to a Carson defensive line that includes sweeper Allison Kop, stopper Carolina Hernandez, along with outside fullbacks Allie Davis and Field. They helped make life easy for goalkeeper Krissy Rose, who didn't need to come up with any more than three saves, according to coach Mike Popp.
"I was proud of our defense. They really won the game for us," Popp said. "South Tahoe, in the total game, probably didn't have the ball on our side of the field 10 times and they didn't have more than three to five shots."
Furthermore, the Senators won even though they were far from full strength. Forward Erika Landis remained sidelined with a torn ligament in her foot, Kop has been hobbled with a bad ankle, while Erin Stieber, Ali Bannister and Katie Kotter were slowed by illness on Saturday.
It was Field who broke up the scoreless duel in the 60th minute when she lofted a long ball from the right side that arched into the net at the far post.
"Her foot is one of the strongest on the team, so it was no surprise to see her take a shot from 30 yards," Popp said. "She couldn't have had a more perfectly placed shot. It was just out of the reach of their keeper."
The Senators return to action at home on Tuesday when they play Hug in another league match.
