WINNEMUCCA - The Lowry High School varsity boys soccer team started the second half of the Division I-A North season in style with an 11-1 win over Fernley on Tuesday afternoon in Winnemucca.
The Buckaroos (4-3-2 Division I-A North, 9-3-2 overall) scored seven times in the first 40 minutes of play, routing the Vaqueros for the third time this season.
""We played our game and played hard," said LHS head coach Steve Swanson. "We mixed it up a lot in the second half. We had guys in different positions and got some guys goals that had not scored yet. We could pretty much do what we wanted."
Lowry climbed on to the scoreboard in the ninth minute off a corner kick by Chris Mendoza that Carlos Aguilar headed in. Aguilar switched roles in the 13th minute, passing the ball off to Jesus Escobedo, who broke through the Fernley defense for the Buckaroos' second goal.
Aguilar notched a hat trick, with goals in the 15th and 18th minutes, pushing the advantage to 4-0. Hayden Jeppsen got into the scoring act in the 25th minute putting a shot in the net of a rebound in the box.
Aguilar picked up his fourth goal of the first half in the 31st minute on a give-and-go from Alex Roark and Sergio Castaneda scored in the 33rd minute off an assist by Weston Irons.
It took Lowry just six minutes to score its first goal of the second half on a shot by Roark. Colton Irons jumped into the scoring act in the 48th minute off a throw in by Mendoza and Jordan Diaz gave the Buckaroos a 10-0 lead in the 59th minute. Chris Barta closed out the scoring for the Buckaroos in the 63rd minute.
Fernley netted its lone goal in the 69th minute on a penalty kick.
"What I was happy about is that we didn't play down to Fernley's level and we were not sloppy," Swanson said. "We played a solid game. It was a game that could have been ugly."
Lowry traveled to Spring Creek on Thursday, Oct. 3, and lost 6-4 in the high-scoring affair. The Buckaroos held a 2-0 lead four minutes into the match off goals by Aguilar and Mendoza.
Spring Creek tied the match at 2-2 at halftime with a goals from Evan Morris in the 20th minute and Justin Ferguson in the 33rd minute. Morris was back in the Spartan lineup after missing a few games due to injury.
"We jumped out to a quick start and played pretty good the rest of the first half," added the coach. "They have a small field and took advantage of that. They also had some guys back that had not been playing."
Spring Creek added three goals in the first 13 minutes of the second half to increase the lead to 5-2. Logan Billin scored in the 45th minute off an assist by his goalkeeper. Morris and Garrett Powell added goals in the 50th and 53rd minute to extend the margin to three.
"They got an early goal and we freaked out," Swanson said. "Two of those goals came off of kicks by their keeper. They build their game around the field they play on. We didn't have the trap set up right and that cost us. That was my fault. We made some adjustments and were OK from there."
Lowry cut the deficit to 5-3 in the 62nd minute on a goal by Kevin Blanco, but Spring Creek countered in the 64th minute on a second goal by Ferguson. Hernandez added a late goal for the Buckaroos but it was not enough to overcome the deficit.
"Spring Creek surprised me with their speed," said the coach. "We will be on a bigger field the next time we play. We will have a different way to approach them the next time we play."
The Buckaroos shook that loss off, with a 4-2 victory over Elko on Saturday in Winnemucca,
Mendoza gave the Buckaroos the early lead in the sixth minute, but Elko came back in the 20th minute on a goal by Trevor Gravin.
Lowry scored twice more in the first half on shots by Aguilar and Hernandez and increased the lead to 4-1 in the 59th minute on a second goal by Hernandez.
Elko's Marcus Manuel scored in the 65th minute but the Indians could not get any closer.
"We never panicked when they tied it up," Swanson said. "We knew what happened and the defense was fine. Elko is struggling a bit with some injuries and other issues."
Lowry traveled to Battle Mountain on Thursday and results were not available at press time. The Buckaroos travel to Dayton on Saturday for an 11 a.m. start.[[In-content Ad]]
