In a slump? Who you gonna call?
Faced with a pivotal game in the Sierra League girls soccer race on Saturday, the Douglas Tigers called on all-time career goals record holder McKenna Kynett. And the senior forward delivered two goals within a span of seven minutes early in the second half that lifted the Tigers to a 2-1 victory at arch rival Carson.
Douglas (8-2-1 league, 10-3-2 overall) broke up a scoreless duel when Kynett scored goals in the 52nd and 59th minutes then held off Carson (9-2 league, 9-2-1 overall) in a matchup of second- and third-place teams in the league standings.
“We had a plan and we didn’t execute it, and they did, and that was the bottom line,” Carson coach Greg Lehman said.
Douglas had been only 1-2-1 in its last four games, including back-to-back shutout losses in the previous seven days against league-leading Bishop Manogue and then Damonte Ranch.
“It’s a W on the road and against a really good team,” Douglas coach Werner Christen said. “It’s a nice win for us. We’re back in it now. If we would have lost this game, I think the division would have been out of the question. Now, we’ve got a shot.”
Douglas took a 1-0 lead in the 52nd minute when Alissa Holley fed a through ball to Kynett, who outran the defense to the ball and finished a one-on-one shot from 18-yards out.
“It was a nice little counter attack … great through ball from Alissa to McKenna,” Christen said. “McKenna’s not going to lose too many one-on-one battles. I thought their keeper played well today, but when you get a perfect ball like that, we should score on those.”
The Senators had prepared for that situation, Lehman noted. They simply were unable to prevent the score in this instance.
“We knew that they would have counter attack opportunities and things we needed to close down when they did that,” he said. “We didn’t do it and they scored, so it ended up costing us.”
Seven minutes later, Kynett scored again on a grounder from just outside 20 yards to the left corner of the net. It marked Kynett’s 103rd career goal for Douglas, which surpasses the listed state large schools record listed by the Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association.
Carson pulled to within 2-1 in the 64th when midfielder Julie Torres scored from directly in front of the net off a corner kick from Lauren Hudak.
“We wanted to possess, be patient and try to create,” Lehman said. “That (goal) gave us an opportunity. The girls played hard to the end.”
Both teams had scoring opportunities in the first half.
In the seventh minute, Carson defender Hailey Palotas cleared the ball out after Kynett headed the ball toward an empty net.
Two minutes later the Senators created a golden opportunity when Mallory Otto dished off a pass to Isabella Wakeling on the right side, however, the shot from about 10 yards out was smothered by Douglas goalkeeper Grace Brooks.
Kynett blasted a 30-yarder that glanced off the crossbar in the 20th minute. Then Kynett’s 20-yarder from the left wing was stopped by Carson goalkeeper Samantha Bishop.
Douglas finished with a 10-7 advantage on the shot chart.
