WINNEMUCCA - What looked like a first-ever victory for the Lowry High School varsity boys soccer team over Truckee turned into a wild 5-5 tie, with the Wolverines scoring two goals in extra time in the second half.
The Buckaroos (4-0-1) led 4-0 10 minutes in the second half, but watched as the Wolverines scored five of the next six goals, including the last two in extra time that last about seven to eight minutes, due to mostly to injuries.
"Truckee picked up some momentum with a couple of our injuries," said LHS head coach Steve Swanson. "We lost Alex (Roark), who is a key on defense, and Carlos (Aguilar) got spiked by the Truckee goalie going in for the goal. You could see us get deflated after that and Truckee smelled blood and turned it up a notch. It wasn't a lack of effort on our part," Swanson said. "Truckee showed a lot of guts. They really fought hard in the final 30 minutes and you have to give credit to them."
Lowry pushed back two Truckee breakaway opportunities in the first eight minutes of the match, and answered back with three goals in the first half.
The Buckaroos scored in the 14th minute when Jesus Escobedo took a free kick from Giovanni Hernandez from about 40 yards out for a 1-0 lead.
Four minutes later, Carlos Aguilar collected a loose ball in the Truckee box and after playing it off his body, the senior fired the ball into the back of the net. Just before the end of the first half Miguel Zavala put in a rebound off a corner kick for the 3-0 advantage.
Both teams had their opportunities to score more goals in the first 40 minutes of play, but both goalies stepped up their play.
The Buckaroos appeared to have control of the match, adding a fourth goal 10 minutes into the second half on a shot by Aguilar after a throw in by Sergio Castaneda.
However, just two minutes later the momentum started to shift with Truckee scoring on own goal by Lowry. A shot hit off a Buckaroo player and into his own net. The Wolverines cut the deficit in half, two minutes later as Lowry had trouble clearing the ball in its own zone.
"We had the match all but won and put away," added the coach. "Truckee fought their way back and got all the momentum. We didn't lose the match, Truckee just fought hard to tie it."
Lowry appeared to quiet the Truckee momentum with Chris Mendoza scoring in the 58th minute with the aid of passes by Aguilar and Kevin Blanco. The goal put the Buckaroos up 5-2, but that was all the scoring for Lowry.
Shortly afterward, Roark, one of Lowry's top defenders, injured his ankle challenging a play near the net. The Wolverines cut the deficit to 5-3 in the 63rd minute despite contact in the net involving Lowry goalie Orlando Pardini. The play was allowed to stand with Truckee making the score 5-3.
The Buckaroos had a chance to double up the Wolverines in the 68th minute, when Aguilar was fouled by the Truckee goalie. Aguilar hurt his knee on the play and was taken off the field. On the ensuing penalty kick the Buckaroos' shot was stopped.
Even though no goals were scored in the next 12 minutes, opportunities arose for both squads. Truckee was able to cut the deficit to a goal four minutes into extra time on a penalty kick. Lowry could not hold off the Truckee momentum as the Wolverines scored a minute later on a breakaway shot to escape with a tie.
"When we missed our penalty kick that was a big change in the momentum," Swanson said. "We had two guys on the bench with injuries and our guys were just trying to survive those final minutes. We just played too passive in the end."
Lowry's tough schedule to start Division I-A plays continues this week with road games at Sparks on Friday at 5 p.m. and at South Tahoe on Saturday at 1 p.m.
Lowry returns home om Tuesday, Sept. 17, to play Churchill County at 5 p.m.
"We showed that we can play with anybody. There is no doubt about that," Swanson said. "We will see them again but first we have to worry about this weekend. We have a tough start to the schedule. We lost composure in the end today and that is something we will work on in practice."
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