Gomez leads Senators past Lakers

Edgar Gomez - the Carson High boys soccer team's player with a hot foot - scored two goals to give the Senators an early lead on their way to a 3-1 nonleague victory at home against North Tahoe on Friday night.

Carson improved its overall season record to 7-4-1 by winning, and at the same time, reversed a 3-1 loss against the defending 3A state champion Lakers on Sept. 7 in Tahoe City.

More important yet, the Senators continued to show they get put the ball in the back of the net. The Senators have scored 10 goals in their last four games - six of which have been scored by Gomez - and have compiled a 3-0-1 record during that span.

"Edgar did an excellent job up front," Carson coach Jason Koop said of the junior forward. "He shot five times and scored twice. We needed somebody to do that because we have struggled. Edgar struggled right along with everyone else; he's found it now, and we've got to get it to him while he's hot."

Gomez scored his first goal off an assist from Chris Thorson. His second was assisted by Sam Rojas and the Senators were in charge. Royal Good gave the Senators their third goal later in the first half, assisted by Enrique Mendoza.

"North Tahoe is a good team, they're one of the best teams in the 3A, but we came out hard and played well from the start," Koop said. "I think we caught them by surprise a little because they came back and showed what they can do in the second half."

B.C. Lampman scored off an assist from Marnix Ramirez for the Lakers (8-4-1, with a tie against South Tahoe).

North Tahoe put pressure on the Senators through much of the second half, but never managed to get on the scoreboard again. In the final 10 minutes, Carson goalkeeper Bud Kop made one diving stop going to his left and appeared to partially deflected a North Tahoe shot that struck off the crossbar.

"Bud has stepped up and played well for us the last few games," Koop said. "He's taken control of his 18, balls up in the air or coming through on the ground in the box, he's picking them up and that takes a lot of pressure off the defense."

Kop's performance was particularly important on a night when the Senators were depleted by illness and injuries. Jeremiah Schenzel, Kevin Brush, Logan Ahl and Ernesto Ayala were all sidelined for the game.

"Basically, we only had two subs all night," Koop said. "I tried to sub as much as possible, but it's hard when you only have two subs, and I think we ran out of gas a little bit in the second half."

Koop even reached down to the J.V. squad for some added depth and brought up John Villagrana to play stopper.

"John came in and gave us some good minutes," Koop said. "This could help out later on because we sometimes bring J.V. kids up for the playoffs and now he he's had a chance to gain experience going up against a good team."

The Senators return to Sierra League action Wednesday with a match against North Valleys in Reno.

"North Valleys is at the bottom of the league, but we're not going to take anyone lightly," Koop said. "I think we can win all these second-round (league) games, but this is the kind of effort we need the rest of the season."

Contact Dave Price at dprice@nevadaappeal.com