WINNEMUCCA - After suffering a 1-0 defeat to Spring Creek on Sept. 25, the Lowry High School boys soccer team had 10 days off before hosting a pair of Division III schools this past weekend in Winnemucca.
The Buckaroos (7-6-1 overall, 2-5-1 Division I-A, 4-1 Ruby Mountain) had little trouble with West Wendover on Friday and White Pine Saturday, winning 7-0 and 7-1, respectively.
"It is tough for those Division III schools to come down here and play teams that are doing well," said LHS head coach Steve Swanson. "Wendover is a school in its first year of soccer, but White Pine has given us trouble in the past. Right now we are on a roll. We are passing well and getting a lot of shots off."
In the matchup with White Pine, Carlos Aguilar recorded a hat trick 18 minutes into the match, eventually finishing with four goals on the day. His first two goals in the sixth and 10th minutes were assisted by Giovanni Hernandez. Hernandez, a sophomore, had four assists on the day.
Aguilar scored his third goal in the 19th minute and Chris Mendoza closed out the scoring in the first half, with a shot in the back of the net in the 32nd minute.
White Pine cut the deficit to 4-1, 12 minutes into the second half on a breakaway goal that got by Lowry goalkeeper Luis Hernandez. Hernandez is doing goalie right now in an effort to heal a nagging injury.
"I just can't have him running hard on the field right now," Swanson said. "I would like to, but I can't get him hurt anymore than he is. Luis will probably play in goal against Battle Mountain, but Roberto (Sanchez) will be back in goal against Elko and Luis will be back on the field."
Jesus Escobedo and Miguel Zavala added goals in the 60th and 66th minute to increase Lowry's advantage to 6-1. Giovanni Hernandez assisted on Escobedo's goal by flicking the ball with the back of his foot. Escobedo took the pass and fired the ball into the net. Zavala's goal came with a cluster of players around the goal, with the ball eventually bouncing in the net.
Aguilar finished up the scoring with a goal in the 78th minute.
"White Pine wanted to play up tempo from the start and I think that threw us off a bit," said the coach. "We need to work on our defense a bit more. It was a little shaky, and I think there were some communication issues. Overall, it was a good day."
It was much of the same against West Wendover on Friday evening as Aguilar provided four more goals for the Buckaroos to finish with eight on the weekend.
"Carlos was just awesome this weekend," Swanson said. "He is a cold-blooded killer. He sees the net and puts the ball in the back of the net."
Giovanni Hernandez added two goals in the victory over West Wendover and Mendoza had one goal and three assists. Zavala had two assists.
"We pushed pretty hard against them," added the coach. "West Wendover's goalie made some great saves. We had 35 shots and he probably made 25 saves."
Lowry is on the road for two matches this week, beginning today in Battle Mountain at 4 p.m. The Buckaroos are back on the road Saturday to play Elko at 1 p.m. Lowry beat Battle Mountain and Elko earlier in the season.
"It is a big week for us," Swanson said. "Strange things can happen in Battle Mountain and Elko is a must-win for us if we want to get a good seeding for the playoffs."
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