RENO — It came down to executing on opportunities.
On Friday, Carson did just that in its 2-0 NIAA Division I boys soccer semifinal game against Cimarron-Memorial at North Valleys in Reno.
“Executing on opportunities is super critical,” Carson captain Peter Garret said. “We always say that. We never back down. No matter what the score is we play our hearts out.”
After beating Cimarron-Memorial, champion of the Sunset Region of Las Vegas, Carson faces Wooster today at noon at North Valleys only five days after ending the Colts 18-game win streak Monday.
This time, though, it won’t be for the Northern Region Division championship — it’s for the state championship.
But getting there wasn’t easy. Cimarron nearly converted on several opportunities Friday, especially in the first half, only to be denied by stellar defense from players like Garrett and defender Brian Llamas.
“I don’t want to take anything away from them (Carson),” Cimarron-Memorial head coach Mark Bailey said. “Soccer works like that — it’s whoever scores the goals. We definitely felt like we did enough to score a goal or two in that first half, maybe three.”
Two of those opportunities occurred in the 24th minute when Llamas aided his keeper and kicked out a shot from Cimarron-Memorial’s Dresden Quackenbush. Less than a minute later, Quackenbush had another chance that went wide of the goal.
“Our defenders have played so well together,” Carson head coach Michael Alvarez said. “I’m so proud of them. Tonight they came through stellar because they had a couple balls going in and they were able to get them out.”
The go-ahead goal came in the 46th minute off the leg of Carson senior Abel Sanchez.
Sanchez got a direct kick on a foul that was blocked, but the Senators maintained possession. A few seconds later, Sanchez regained possession and didn’t miss.
“I was just thinking (after the goal) we got to keep moving and score some more,” Sanchez said through an interpreter.
Rogelio Herrera, a junior, added to Carson’s lead in the 78th minute after he grabbed possession when the ball soared high over the Spartans half. With most Cimarron-Memorial defenders pushed up field, Herrera tracked the ball and only had one defender to beat when it finally came down.
“At first I thought I was offside,” said Herrera, who got behind the Spartan defense without being noticed.
When asked if he thought beating Wooster on Monday helped or hurt Carson’s chances of beating them for a second time in one week, Garrett confidently responded without hesitation.
“It helps,” he said. “The games before that (Monday’s game) we didn’t lose by much (against Wooster). The goals in the games before were mistakes and we’ve fixed those mistakes. Coming into the state finals our confidence is a lot higher.”
