Carson, Galena boys battle to 1-1 tie

It only took the Carson High boys soccer team three minutes to get on the scoreboard against Galena on Saturday night.

The remaining 77 minutes were another story in terms of offensive production, although the Senators managed to salvage a 1-1 tie in their season home opener -- and their first night game since lights were added at the Carson facility this summer.

Margarito Diaz scored off an assist from Ernesto Ayala in the third minute to give Carson (1-0-1) an early 1-0 lead. Galena (0-0-2) came back to tie the score in the sixth minute on Mario Harker's goal, assisted by Adam Schuveiller.

That was the extent of the scoring, although Carson coach Jim Nealis obviously felt the Senators should have had more.

"We gave up six shots and we had 26 shots, so right there is a pretty good indication how the game was played," Nealis said. "Twenty-six shots and only one goes in, that's clearly something we need to work on. We just need to put the ball in the back of the net."

Galena coach Marco Merlo was pleased with the performance of his Grizzlies, who are the defending High Desert League champions but now have just five seniors on the roster.

"I thought we played pretty well," said Merlo, whose team played Reno to a 0-0 tie last week. "We're still basically missing starters because of injuries from the preseason. We're young, so I'm pleased to play this well against both Reno and Carson, teams that are always pretty tough."

The Senators aren't at full strength, either, with projected starting forward Carlos Hernandez still waiting to become eligible. Hernandez, a senior who has led the Senators in scoring each of the last two seasons, is expected to play soon.

Diaz has scored all three goals for the Senators so far this season, including both scores in a 2-0 victory at McQueen on Wednesday. The Senators had several chances to add to that total in the final 15 minutes against Galena.

Ayala gathered in a loose ball inside the box and had a one-on-one opportunity in the 67th minute, but Galena goalkeeper Dan Timko came out of the net and stripped the ball away. One minute later, Timko left his feet to stop a low header by Loren Wooldridge. Timko also had nice saves on shots by Ayala and Drew Anderson in the final four minutes.

Timko had seven saves on the night.

"He was excellent," Nealis said of the Galena goalkeeper.

The Senators had their highlights as well.

"We definitely had our opportunities," Nealis said. "A lot of our guys worked hard through the 80 minutes, it's just unfortunate they played as well as they did and only came away with a tie. We had one defensive lapse on a corner kick and they were able to head it in.

"But all in all, I thought it was a good show. It's still early and we still haven't faced anyone in our league. Galena is always one of the top four teams in their league so I'm glad we got to play them."

The Senators return to action Tuesday night for a 7 p.m. non-league game against North Tahoe, then they begin Sierra League play on Wednesday with a 3:30 p.m. game at home against Hug.