Carson midfielder Jose Sepulveda heads the ball while Peter Garrett looks on in a game against Wooster Saturday at home.
Senators pick up big win vs. Wooster: Carson girls rout Colts
Revenge is sweet. Just ask the Carson High’s boys soccer team.
Back on Oct. 1, the Senators suffered an embarrassing 7-2 loss to Wooster, a game in which Carson simply stopped playing.
On Saturday, the Senators kept their home field hopes alive for the playoffs with a 3-1 upset of the Colts. The Senators played the final 29 minutes with just 10 players after freshman goalkeeper Efren Ramirez was issued a red card when he went for a sliding steal and didn’t contact the ball, taking the Wooster player out in the process. He will miss Monday’s make-up game at McQueen. Guillermo Hernandez filled in for Ramirez and did a stellar job, blocking a penalty kick and making three saves.
The win upped Carson’s record to 7-4-1 with games against McQueen, Galena and Manogue this week. The game against Galena is huge, because the Grizzlies and Senators tied the first time around.
Wooster had several good looks, but didn’t find the back of the net until converting a direct free kick in extra time.
“They have the best offensive team in the league,” CHS coach Mike Alvarez said. “I’m very proud of the team. I’m so proud of Guillermo. He’s messed around in goal during practices.”
“I have some experience,” Hernandez said. “When my friends and I mess around I’ll go and play goalie. When we need somebody at practice I’ll get in there.”
Carson’s goalie at the start of the year, Victor Guardado, quit the team a couple of weeks ago. Jose Moreno, the No. 2 goalie, was not in uniform on Saturday, though Alvarez expected him back next week. Losing Ramirez was key, but Hernandez played a solid game.
Carson took a 2-0 lead in the first 16 minutes, scoring on its first two shots of the game.
Galvan scored his 15th goal of the season on a cross from Rogelio Herrera in the 9th minute, and seven minutes later, Alejandro Gonzalez blasted one from 30 yards out to make it 2-0 at the 16-minute mark.
The Colts had a couple of good runs and a couple of good shots, but were unable to convert in the final 24 minutes of the first half.
In the 49th minute, Galvan was tripped in the penalty box, and left the game with an injured ankle. Hernandez was selected to take the PK, and he converted for a 3-0 lead.
Two minutes later, Ramirez was carded, giving the Colts a free shot. Hernandez knocked it away to preserve the shutout. It was the second PK in recent games that Carson has stopped.
“A guess is all it is,” Hernandez said. “I made a lucky guess.”
Hernandez made a great save in the 66th minute, deflecting a shot off the crossbar. The Colts were unable to ram home the rebound.
Galvan had a couple of good looks late in the game, but was unable to convert. The second opportunity went off the crossbar.
Wooster broke the shutout in extra time.
“At practice, we talked about possessing the ball,” freshman defender Christian Martinez said. “We possessed the ball a lot more. We didn’t play kickball like we did the last time. We kept attacking.”
GIRLS
Carson rolls to easy win
Mayra Olivares scored a hat trick to lead the slow-starting Senators (9-2-2) to an easy 5-0 win over Wooster Saturday afternoon.
Carson will now get ready for Galena, a team that it lost to 4-2 earlier this year. It’s essentially a must win for the Senators, who need a victory to avoid a season sweep which is the first tiebreaker in a head-to-head tie.
“We’ll be excited to play Galena,” CHS coach Greg Lehman said. “We have grown a lot since that game. I think we’re going in the right direction.
“We started a little slow today, but we ended the half well, and I thought we played really well the whole second half.”
Carson had five good looks in the first half before Karla Reyes took a throw-in from Galilea Cid and scored in the 34th minute. It’s the second time that duo has hooked up to score on the same type of play.
Molly and Mallory Otto, who were called up from JV, gave the Senators a lift in the latter stages of the first half and both started the second half.
Molly Otto took a pass from Isabella Wakeling to score in the 52nd minute for a 2-0 lead, and 18 minutes later Olivares scored her second goal of the game for a 3-0 advantage. Lauren Hudak crossed the ball to Julie Torres, who headed it to Olivares who scored her second goal of the game. Olivares completed her hat trick about four minutes later when she took a through ball from Nahim Gutierrez and easily beat the Wooster goalie.
One thing is certain, the Otto twins gave Carson a little burst of energy while they were on the field.
“They will be on the varsity roster for the playoffs for sure,” said Lehman when asked if the twins would remain on the varsity roster. “They played really well. We’ll discuss it.”
