Enrique Mendoza made his presence felt against arch-rival Douglas in a huge way.
The speedy Mendoza scored two goals and assisted on another, as Carson High pounded Douglas 5-1 in a Sierra League boys soccer match Tuesday night at Carson.
The Senators, 7-1, maintained a share of first place heading into Saturday's home match against Hug. The victory gave the Senators a season sweep over Douglas (10-4, 4-4), who lost Kyle Mannschreck to a red card in the second half.
"Obviously we were pretty pumped up," Carson coach Jason Koop said. "We kept going after them. By no means was it easy. I'm very pleased."
"This was huge to beat them twice," Mendoza said. "They are our big rival."
The Senators scored 48 seconds into the match.
Mendoza centered the ball to Drew Good, who converted from short range against back-up goalie Andrew Andraski. Douglas started the game with starting goalie Jose Alcaraz at fullback.
"He creates," Douglas coach Milko Vasquez said. "He knows what to do with the ball."
"We switched Cheeks (Mendoza) from the right to the left (during the game)," Koop said. "Obviously they were aware where he was at. The guy that was with him went with him when he switched sides. That speaks volumes of his ability."
Douglas' Oscar Gonzalez had a good opportunity in the 39th minute, but his shot sailed over the crossbar. The Tigers managed just six shots on goal in the first 40 minutes.
Mendoza made it 4-0 in the 51st minute when he took a through ball from Christian Volker and beat Alacarez, who took over in goal for Andraski. Mendoza's shot bounced off the DHS keeper and rolled into the net.
Brady Roser capped the Carson scoring in the 53rd minute with a score.
The Senators appeared headed for a shutout, but goalie Brandon Briggs was whistled for a foul in the penalty box, and Michael Gransbery beat Briggs, who was given a yellow card after the goal was scored. The center official told Koop that Briggs was using profanity.
Gransbery's goal gives him 21 for the season and 52 for his career.
"We were very impatient on offense," Vasquez said. "We just started playing longball. That was an issue. It's not something we work at. They put a lot of pressure on us.
"They are deep. Things don't drop off much when they sub. We came out flat."
