Tie with Wooster clinches 3rd for Tigers

In three short days, the Douglas boys' soccer team went from being a team on the brink of missing the playoffs to clinching the No. 3 seed out of the Sierra League.

Douglas tied Wooster 1-1 Monday afternoon, wrapping up the regular season with a 14-5-2 record overall and 8-5-1 record in Sierra League play.

By virtue of Reno's loss to Carson Monday and Douglas' win over Reno Saturday, the Tigers and Huskies will coast into the postseason with identical records.

The team that wins the second matchup of the season between two teams holds the tiebreaker, so Douglas should enter the playoffs Saturday as the No. 3 seed.

Monday, the teams played to a scoreless tie in the first half before Wooster got on the board in the first minute of the second half.

Michael Barnes scored his fifth game-winning or game-tying goal of the season with a shot off on an Edgar Arceo assist in the 52nd minute.

Arceo played the ball in from the left corner area and Barnes put his 16th goal of the season in to tie the game.

The Douglas defense played well with Ross Gardner, Kyle Gardner and Geoff Rahe stopping up the holes pretty well and goalie Jose Alcaraz making five saves.

Douglas was without Eddie Vega, who missed the game with a minor knee injury, but Arceo showed a lot of creativity in the middle.

"Coming in third shows a lot about the character of these young men," Douglas coach Milko Vasquez said. "We are a young team and they have come together well since the start of the season."

Douglas outscored its opponents 79-30 during the course of the regular season, marking an average of 3.7 to 1.4 per game.

"Our offense has done a tremendous job this season."

The Tigers' clinched a playoff spot Saturday, upsetting No. Reno 2-1 in Minden.

Douglas' defense, which has been much maligned by injuries in recent weeks, came up big for the Tigers and the offense capitalized on the opportunities they were given to power ahead for the win.

Reno jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the opening minute after a Tiger defender missed his mark and the Huskies converted the miscue into a goal.

That was about all Reno would get, though, as the Huskies put only three more shots on net in the game.

Vega got Douglas on the board late in the first half after the Reno keeper played the ball short. Vega collected it and punched it in to tie the game at one with his sixth goal of the year.

The Tigers went ahead in the 55th minute when Oscar Gonzalez crossed the ball into the middle. Mike Gransbery headed the ball in mid-flight, deflecting it right into Barnes' possession. Barnes put the game-winner in.

Douglas coach Milko Vazquez said Jeff Hulsey did an outstanding job marking Reno's top offensive player and that seniors Derik Cantley, Kyle Mannschreck, Gransbery and Barnes all had big games in their last match on their home field.

He said Vega, Arceo and Rahe all played well defensively and Alcaraz had three big saves in net.