By Nick Bowton
nbowton@salisburypost.com
Carson came to Salisbury on Friday night as a third-year soccer program with two substitutes on its bench and one star player to count on.
The Cougars left with an injured star player and what coach Chris Walters called their “greatest victory.”
Valentin Nava missed the first 20 minutes of the second half with an injured knee, came back on despite being “50 percent” and scored two goals in the final nine minutes to lead Carson to a 2-0 victory ó its first ever against Salisbury.
“When I got hurt, everybody said they were gonna play with heart for me,” said Nava, who now has 13 goals in six games. “So I was like, ‘Well, I’m gonna play heart for y’all.’ I came back in, everybody hustled hard, and that’s what it takes to win a soccer game.”
It also takes players the caliber of Nava.
The reigning county player of the year, Nava got behind the Salisbury defense all night at Ludwig Stadium. Only Salisbury goalkeeper Frankie Cardelle kept him from scoring another goal or two.
Nava first threatened to score when he ran onto a pass over the defense, beat Cardelle and had to quickly shoot on an empty net because defenders were recovering. That shot went over the goal, but it let the Hornets know Nava was every bit as good as they figured.
“It has to be played to perfection in the back because if there’s one misplay, one bad bounce, that kid’s gonna run onto it,” said Salisbury coach Tom Sexton said, whose team fell to 0-4 after forfeiting its first three wins because of an ineligible player. “Speed, touch. He makes himself dangerous, and they know how to feed him the ball.”Through the first 20 minutes of the second half, it appeared that’s all the Cougars knew.
With Nava out, Carson looked like a different team early in the second half. Salisbury controlled the flow of play, but Carson goalkeeper Anel Ramic stopped any shots on goal, and the Hornets sent plenty of headers wide.
“We shut down pretty much anything that got in the box,” Walters said. “Anel’s a big guy. He’s able to get there. He’s a smart player too.”
With Ramic and the Cougars (3-1-2) keeping Salisbury scoreless, Nava decided to re-enter the game with about 19 minutes left. He had left with a minute remaining in the first half when Cardelle came out of the penalty box, slid and clipped Nava on the knee in a one-on-one situation.That sort of foul usually results in a red card, but Cardelle remained in the game ó only to get tested by Nava later.
Nava finally scored when teammate Carlos Soto, one of the smallest players on the field, hustled past a Salisbury defender and got a foot on the ball as Cardelle came off his line near the top of the box. The ball deflected off Cardelle and to Nava, who scored on an empty net.
“Even when I hurt him, he still came,” said Cardelle, who’s known Nava six years. “He’s a good player.”
Sexton won’t argue that point, but he wasn’t happy with the first goal because a linesman initially raised his flag to signal offsides, then tried to bring the flag down. Nava did not appear to be offsides on the play.
After the goal, Salisbury had to send more players forward to attack. The result? A transition goal for Carson.
Juan Caicedo, who played well both alongside Nava and in his absence, got the ball near midfield, waited for Nava to catch up and played a ball forward to give Nava yet another one-on-one opportunity against Cardelle.
Nava slotted the ball in the lower left corner with a minute remaining, and Carson had sealed a victory against what’s been the top team in the county most of this decade. The Cougars were already off to a solid start in a competitive NPC.
“Salisbury, they’re such a skilled team every year,” Walters said. “It means a lot. I haven’t beaten Tom Sexton very many times; he’s beaten me a lot more. So it feels good as a coach to win.
“It feels even better that these boys have been here three years. For me, I’m proud of that more than just a win ó that we’re successful now.”