With its playoff hopes on the line, the Lowry High School boys soccer team was looking to pull off a victory as in embarked on a road trip where it would play three matches in five days.
The Buckaroos traveled to South Tahoe last Friday and suffered a 6-0 loss to the Vikings. Lowry stayed in the Lake Tahoe area and moved over to Truckee on Saturday, where the Wolverines won 7-1.
"We played two really good halves and then we played two halves that weren't the best," said LHS coach Steve Swanson. "We played two good teams and we have to be able to play for a full 80 minutes."
South Tahoe jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first 23 minutes of the match, as all three goals were scored by the Vikings' Danny Lizola.
The senior opened the scoring by converting a one-on-one chance in the sixth minute, then found the back of the net off a cross a minute later. Lizola scored his third goal on a rebound opportunity.
South Tahoe added to its lead in the 35th minute off a free kick and the Vikings' Cesar Ruiz placed the ball in the top corner of the net.
The match remained 4-0 until the 72nd minute when Chase Waterman scored and the Vikings scored as the whistle blew after a shot by Kade Wallace.
"We came back and played a lot better in the second half," Swanson said. "I like the way we played. We just have stretches where we put ourselves in a hole and can't recover."
Lowry (2-7-0 Division I-A North, 3-10-0 overall) gained the early momentum against Truckee, taking a 1-0 lead in the 20th minute on a goal by Jesus Escobedo. The Buckaroos held the advantage until late in the second half, when the Wolverines tied the match off a free kick.
Truckee took the lead on the opening kick of the second half, sending a ball that went over the head of the Buckaroos goalie.
"It was a big momentum shift," said the coach. "We scored that first goal and Truckee just put the pressure on from there. We went from leading to trailing just like that. Truckee saw our goalie out of the net and just kicked it over his head. We just couldn't get the momentum back."
Truckee went on to score five more times in the second half to break the match open.
"Just looking at the teams, Truckee is probably the best in our league," Swanson said. "They have wins over Sparks and South Tahoe. We are looking better and things are coming along. It's not impossible for us to get to fourth, but it is going to be really hard. We are going to have to pretty much win out or get a point against Sparks. We need to get busy. If we have to play the spoiler than we can do that to."
Lowry traveled to Fallon on Tuesday and lost 2-0 to Churchill County. The Greenwave scored in the 7th minute on a header by Tristan Parrott to lead 1-0 at halftime. Churchill County added the second goal in the 59th minute off a shot by Angel Cornejo. The Greenwave are currently third in the Division I-A North standings.
The Buckaroos host Sparks on Saturday at noon and are back home Tuesday to face South Tahoe at 4 p.m.[[In-content Ad]]
