WINNEMUCCA - When playoff race arrives in the first week of November, the Lowry High School varsity soccer team might look back on its match with Churchill County on Tuesday and say, "what if."
The Buckaroos (0-2-2 Division I-A North, 4-2-2 overall) dominated the action against the Greenwave, but had to score a second half goal to earn a 2-2 tie.
"It was not a very good first half for us," said LHS head coach Steve Swanson. "We keep talking like we are ready to play, but we come out and play down to the level of the team we are playing. We came out and were just sluggish and didn't pass well and we were not aggressive."
Playing into a strong wind, Churchill County grabbed the early advantage in the 10th minute, as the Greenwave took advantage of Buckaroo goalie Orlando Pardini being out of the net.
Carlos Aguilar tied the match in the 23rd minute as he took a ball in the middle of the box and used his left foot to put the ball in the back of the net.
About 10 minutes later, the Greenwave jumped back in front with an open net in front of them as Pardini came out to play the ball. Churchill County was able to get by the Buckaroo goalie for the shot in the open net.
"Both of the goals were when Orlando came out to play the ball," Swanson said. "He does it some well and is usually on it. He played the first one OK but got unlucky, and the second one he guessed wrong. It is what it is. Orlando was solid in the second half."
Lowry came out and dominated possession in the second half as Churchill County settled for kicking the ball out of play to delay the match. In addition, the Buckaroos were able to pull the Greenwave offside on a number of occasions.
The Buckaroos tied the match midway through the second half, when Aguilar crossed the ball into the box and Giovanni Hernandez headed the ball in the net.
Both squads had chances to take the lead late in the match, but shots by both teams went wide of the net.
"The guys were upset and came out and played in the second half," Swanson said. "When they do that, they play very well. We had a couple of opportunities in the end, but their goalie made some plays. All in all it was not a bad performance. The thing is we can't be dropping easy points."
Lowy was on the road this past weekend with games at Sparks on Friday, Sept. 13, and South Tahoe this past Saturday.
The Buckaroos had to endure two 30-minute lightning delays, with the Railroaders coming out on top 4-1.
"Despite the loss, I thought we played well," added the coach. "They like to play the through ball. They got a couple of ugly goals on us."
Leading 2-0 in the second half, Sparks caught a break in scoring its third goal. Before the goal, the Railroaders' coach was yellow-carded. After the yellow card, Sparks was awarded an indirect free kick instead of a dropped ball. The Railroaders scored on the play.
"Instead of kicking the ball back to us, which is normally protocol, they kicked the ball in the box and scored," Swanson said. "My guys were just standing and watching. It was a tough break for us."
Aguilar scored the Buckaroos' lone goal in the 52nd minute to cut the deficit to 3-1. Sparks added a fourth goal in the 62nd minute.
Lowry was in South Tahoe on Saturday, the scene of its regional playoff loss a year ago. The Vikings jumped out to a 4-0 lead at halftime and went on to win the match 5-0.
"It was a similar team to last year but different kids," Swanson said. "The thing was, we left everything on the field from the night before in Sparks and had nothing left. It wasn't from a lack of effort. We just had no gas left in the tank and I am OK with that."
Lowry is back on the field on Monday when they travel to Fernley for a 5 p.m. start.[[In-content Ad]]
