Boys' Soccer: Douglas, Galena battle to 1-1 tie

It was the first time the two schools had met since the 2005 season, but the intensity of the rivalry hasn't worn off at all.

The Douglas and Galena boys' battled to a 1-1 tie in the Sierra League opener for both schools Wednesday afternoon in Minden.

The game had a whole cast of new faces, but the rivalry retained its physicality and relative balance.

After a scoreless first half, Douglas got on the scoreboard first when an indirect kick from midfield was collected by Ross Gardner. Gardner received the ball, shifted away from the net and beat the Galena keeper with a shot to the left in the 51st minute.

Galena answered two minutes later when a shot bounced off the post and behind Douglas goalie Corbin Zumpft. The Grizzlies were able to score on the rebound, which had trickled in front of an open net.

The rest of the game featured back-and-forth play with a fairly even number of scoring opportunities.

Douglas nearly got on the board in the opening minutes of the game on a rocket of a shot from 20 yards out that was punched over the crossbar.

Galena missed an open shot in the 27th minute with Zumpft having been drawn out of the net.

Douglas had a chance to steal away with the win in the last two minutes when midfielder Edgar Arceo crossed the ball in front and Gardner dove in with a sharp header that was scooped up.

The last time the two teams met was in the first round of the 2005 playoffs when the Tigers upset the higher-seeded Grizzlies on penalty kicks in Reno.

The Tigers had also upset the Grizzlies the year prior in the first round with a 1-0 win in Carson. Now that Galena has moved into the Sierra League, they'll be seeing each other at least twice a year.

Zumpft finished the game with four saves while Douglas managed eight shots on goal.

Gardner and Brian Randall anchored the Douglas defense in the middle while Fabian Ramos, Tyler Bankofier and Dylan Colbert were strong on the outside.

Arceo, Andrew Andraski, Christian Salazar and Jeff Crozier had good games in the midfield for the Tigers.

Douglas ran its record to 5-3-1 overall and 0-0-1 in Sierra League play.