Even though he witnessed the worst loss in the seven years he's been at Carson High, Mike Popp couldn't have been happier with the Senators' 3-0 loss to Reno on Saturday afternoon at Carson High.
"I thought we moved the ball well today and I'm not sad at all by any means with the loss," said Popp, now in his fourth year coaching the varsity after three with the JV. "We played a lot better than we did against McQueen. We just need to work on our finishing and scoring."
This past Wednesday, Carson (0-1-1 overall, 0-1 Sierra League) held a two-goal before tying McQueen 3-3. But despite the positive result, Popp wasn't pleased with how his team played. Carson, which has only three starters back from last season's Northern 4A championship team, outplayed the Huskies most of the game, according to Popp. But he said the Senators just couldn't find a way score, while Reno scored goals that weren't impressive.
"They scored weak goals and got the lucky breaks, but that's what happens in competitive sports sometimes, " Popp said. "After the two goals, I think the girls got down a bit and we started switching some things up."
In the 36th minute, Sarah Rosenbloom crossed the ball into the box from the left side and Carson goalie Allison Otto, a freshman, mishandled it and Jessica Mack was there to put it away. Rosenbloom set up Reno's next goal in the 47th minute, when she touched a ball into space inside the box and Rachael Schuster poked it into the goal. Then in the 75th minute, Lindsay Karlin scored an unassisted goal.
Reno coach Steve Asher, who welcomed back seven returning seniors from last year's team, was pleased to get such a lopsided win against the defending league champions.
"I felt we did (dominate)," Asher said. "We pretty much set the tempo from the start. We have a very versatile team and I thought we played extremely well."
Popp says the last time he remembers such a one-sided loss by Carson was two years ago, when Reed beat the Senators 3-1 in the Northern 4A Regional semifinals. The Senators had only five shots on goal against Reno, three of which occurred right after halftime. But the the Huskies scored their second goal and the Senators never threatened after that.
On Tuesday, Carson plays rival Douglas in Minden.
