RENO -- The Douglas girls' soccer team edged Galena 2-1 to win its second consecutive regional title at Damonte Ranch Saturday night.
Carson also secured a spot in the upcoming state playoffs with a 2-1 win
over Damonte Ranch in the third-place game.
The reward for the two rivals winning on Saturday? A chance to meet for the
third time this season at 6 p.m. Friday at Damonte Ranch High School. Galena
will face Pahrump in the other first-round game.
"I'm looking forward to it," Douglas coach Lorraine Fitzhugh said. "I was
hoping it would be Carson. It will be electrically charged (playing Carson),
and I like that. I'm looking forward to it and hopefully winning."
Douglas played a tremendous first half, playing much of the first 40 minutes
on Galena's side of the field.
Alex Laing gave the Tigers a 1-0 lead when she took a pass from Tia Lyons
and beat Galena's Kenzie Kline in the 11th minute. Fifteen minutes later,
Laing scored again to give her team a 2-0 lead.
"The first one, Tia put a perfect pass right on my foot," Laing said. "On
the second one, I was one versus two (Laing against two defenders), I pushed
it between her legs, went around her and shot it."
Douglas enjoyed an 8-0 lead in shots on goal in the first 40 minutes. Galena
had couple of runs, but could never get a shot off.
Laing was back in her normal (center) midfield spot after playing some
forward earlier.
"She was coming back from a knee injury," Fitzhugh said, explaining why the
move was made. "She has confidence there. It connected our midfield to the
rest of the team.
"In zone games you have to be able to move the ball; know how to move the
ball."
And, Fitzhugh said her team did a good job of moving the ball right from the
outset. Galena was unable to build any offense from the back, and that's a
problem unless you can catch a break on some through balls. Galena doesn't
have that kind of speed.
The Grizzlies did cut the lead to 2-1 with 23:43 left on a goal by Ally
Whitlock.
"That was a mistake on our part," Fitzhugh said. "The ball ricocheted out
from the mouth of the goal, and she put it in. She's a good player and we
were marking her close. I thought one of our defenders should have gotten to
the ball."
Galena's Sara Lancaster got off a shot with around four minutes left, but it
was an easy save. That was the last time the Grizzlies got a good look.
