Boys' soccer: Slow start finishes Douglas

The quick-strike South Tahoe offense wasted little time putting the Douglas boys' soccer team in a big hole Saturday afternoon, scoring three goals in the game's first 18 minutes.

The Vikings held on for a 4-1 win from there, handing the Tigers only their second loss at home this season.

"We just came out flat and you can't do that against a team like South Tahoe," Douglas coach Milko Vasquez said.

Of course, it didn't help either that Douglas' entire starting line of defenders was out with various injuries.

Ray Kaffer, Kyle Mannschreck, Kyle Gardner and Derik Cantley were all out.

"That was a huge factor," Vasquez said. "Missing those guys hurt, but the guys who were back there did a good job of filling in."

Douglas' Mike Gransbery, who has 27 goals on the year and 58 for his career, was also slowed with a broken toe.

"We just need to get better, healthy, very quickly," Vasquez said. "We are definitely in a must-win situation from here on. We need people to step up for us."

Douglas did manage to get on the board late in the game as Andrew Andraski scored his third goal of the season on Michael Barnes' 10th assist in the 70th minute.

South Tahoe added a late goal after that to put the game away.

Douglas is now 6-5-0 on the year and sits in fourth place in the Sierra League. Wooster is right on the Tigers' heals, in fifth with a 5-6-0 record, while Hug sits in sixth with a 4-7-0 mark.

Both Wooster and Hug remain on the Tigers' schedule, as does No. 3-ranked Reno.