R-C Sports Notebook: Tiger boys are the cardiac kids

The R-C Sports Notebook is a weekly online-exclusive column that appears every Tuesday on www.recordcourier.com. It contains observations, rumors, scoops and briefs from the Douglas County sports world.

It was no surprise really that the Douglas boys' soccer team pulled off the upset over High Desert League champion McQueen Saturday in the first round of the Northern 4A Regional playoffs at Damonte Ranch.

Sure, the Tigers were battling numerous injuries and saw several more players, including two goalkeepers, go down during the course of the battle with the Lancers.

But Douglas has simply proven over the last three seasons that it is a program built for the playoffs.

The Tigers were out there, sporting their mohawks as they have done for the playoffs in each of the last three seasons, gritting out a victory through two overtimes and a penalty kick shootout.

Douglas has come in as either the No. 3 or No. 4 seed in each case, but has pulled off two shootout victories and one one-goal victory in the first round. They are 4-2 in the playoffs during that timespan and have played for the regional title once.

It may have something to do with the superiority of competition in the Sierra League (the High Desert League has won just one first-round playoff game on the whole over the last three seasons), but it also has a lot to do with the character of the players.

Douglas' Mike Gransbery and Derik Cantley were the only players left from the Tigers' initial upset of the top-seeded Galena Grizzlies in the 2004 playoffs. That Tiger squad was on the brink of elimination for nearly the entire second half of the season, but rebounded to advance to the regional championship.

Success simply breeds success.

One Tiger senior was overheard giving pointers to a playoff rookie Saturday morning before the game. It's assumed many such conversations took place on the Tiger sidelines leading up to kickoff.

The 2006 Tigers are a young team, but they too have already learned how to play under pressure with the season on the line. It will be interesting to see where they are three years from now.

But, there is a lot of soccer still to be played this season.

Douglas takes on South Tahoe Thursday night at Damonte Ranch in the regional semifinals at 6 p.m.

- Carson's 32-22 win over Reno Thursday has to go down as the upset of the season in Northern 4A football.

Carson, who trailed winless Wooster in the second quarter two weeks ago and trailed one-win South Tahoe three weeks ago, came in to the game having already lost two starting quarterbacks and a number of key starters to injuries.

Reno came in having several of the top Division I talents in the region and having played for the league title just the week prior.

Credit Douglas' defense, most notably defensive coordinator Bob Bateman, for exposing several deficiencies in Reno's no-huddle offense early on in the Tigers 24-21 victory two weeks ago. Douglas' first two scoring drives in that game were direct results of the defense finding ways to disrupt Reno quarterback Jon Dankworth's rhythm.

Carson just continued the trend last week, scoring two touchdowns on interception returns, holding the Huskies to just 86 yards passing and recording three interceptions and a number of fumble recoveries.

Come to think of it, Douglas has been putting together solid game plans tailored specifically to its opponents all year long.

Only three Tiger opponents - Reed, North Valleys and Hug - managed to win in the week following a matchup with Douglas.

- Douglas cross country coach Keith Cole is ecstatic about his team's performance at last week's regional championships.

The girls' squad came in fourth (Had this been last year, that finish would have been good enough to qualify the entire team for state, but only two teams got to go from the North this year) and the boys' squad took fifth.

Between the two, Douglas will lose only two varsity starters, one boy and one girl.

The Tigers' two individual state qualifiers, Whitney Lindsey and Taylor Biaggi, are only a junior and a sophomore respectively.

The regional champ, Reno standout Mel Lawrence, graduates this spring, leaving the field open for next year.

"We are looking at a very strong squad next year if everyone comes back," Cole said. "They improved every week and it has been fun to watch."

- Douglas senior soccer standout Morgan LeFever wrapped up her career Saturday playing midfield in the first round of the Northern 4A Regional playoffs.

LeFever, who broke the state 4A, region, league and school records for goals in a career (56) and goals in a season (26), is arguably Douglas' top Division-I-caliber recruit since goalkeeper Ashley Sulprizio signed with Nebraska and then transfered to California.

She has incredible breakaway speed, solid fundamentals and good vision of the field. She also has that toughness element that can't really be coached in to a player.

LeFever suffered a severe ankle injury last spring and was told at one point that she wouldn't be playing soccer again. That didn't last long as she launched into a rigorous rehabilitation program that had her back up to speed, if not a step faster, by the beginning of the season.

She was also never afraid to charge right into traffic and challenge for the ball and showed exceptional prowess as a distributor, leading the team in assist in both her senior and sophomore seasons.

The career goals record is made more impressive in light of the fact that she playe defense for half of the season last year as a junior.

That experience in back, however, may make her more marketable down the road as she has shown potential at forward, midfield and defense in her high school career.