Carson boys soccer defeats North Valleys

On the scoreboard, Carson High school was a 4-1 victor against North Valleys in Sierra League boys soccer action on Saturday afternoon.

However, the score could have been much higher on a day when the Senators had plenty of opportunities en route to a win that improved their league record to 8-1-2 and 9-2-2 overall. North Valleys dropped to 0-9-1.

"To me, it was one of our better team efforts of the year," Carson coach Jason Koop said. "We moved the ball pretty good as far as hitting our targets and being able to do something with the ball - that's something we worked on all week - and defensively we were solid as well. I have no complaints. The guys have been working hard and it's showing."

Offensively, the Senators began to apply pressure midway through the first half. It started in the 15th minute when Mats Boehnke volleyed a corner kick from Enrique Mendoza into the net for the first of his two goals on the day.

One minute later Edgar Gomez fed a pass inside to Loren Wooldridge, who pushed the ball past the goalkeeper, only to see the shot deflected just wide to the left. Two minutes after that, Zach Weismann pass in front of the net was headed just above the crossbar by freshman Brady Roser. And moments after that, Wooldridge had another good shot that went wide right.

In the 29th minute, Mendoza received a long pass from midfield on the right side and fed the ball to Gomez in front of the net for a goal, giving the Senators a 2-0 lead that stood at halftime.

Carson extended its lead to 3-0 in the 47th minute when Mendoza put a through ball in to Boehnke, who gathered it in just inside the 18-yard box, took one touch and struck a shot past the far post.

North Valleys converted a penalty kick in the 55th minute, cutting the gap to 3-1. But Carson put the win on ice in the 66th minute when Mendoza beat his defender, took a pass from Boehnke, and pushed a shot past the goalkeeper.

That was more than enough support for a defense that performed well all day.

"They had six shots, but other than the p.k., they didn't have any good scoring opportunities," Koop said.

The coach went on to mention the play of Drew Heller, Sam Rojas, Kevin Brush and Boehnke on the defensive end, as well as Logan Ahl and Wooldridge in the midfield.

Carson will be at home again Wednesday night when it hosts South Tahoe at 7 p.m. in a showdown between league leaders. South Tahoe is 9-0-2 after beating Douglas 4-0 on Saturday.

JUNIOR VARSITY

Brandon Briggs and Adam Updegrove combined to score five goals as Carson defeated North Valleys 10-0.

Briggs scored a hat trick, while Updegrove contributed two goals and three assists. J.P. McFarren also had four assists from his right wing position.

Christian Limon, Chase Losche, Aaron Buonacorsi, Ryan Lee and Martin Azzam scored goals for the Senators, who led 7-0 at halftime. Blake Moreland and Losche also had assists.

Credit for the shutout was shared by Lee and Moreland.