WINNEMUCCA - The Lowry High School boys soccer team was riding high as it entered its Ruby Mountain League match with Spring Creek on Tuesday, Sept. 25.
The Buckaroos (5-6-1 overall, 2-5-1 Division I-A, 2-1 Ruby Mountain) were coming off a 2-1 victory over Elko just days earlier in Winnemucca, which extended its win streak to four games.
However, Lowry could not keep the momentum going, with Spring Creek picking up a 1-0 win on its home field over the Buckaroos.
"It was disappointing to lose but it was not from a lack of effort or trying," said LHS head coach Steve Swanson. "We played well and it was a great game. It was intense and fun to watch. Spring Creek snuck one in on us that we missed. We had a lot of good shots. We had a couple shots go off the crossbar and another one that was taken away from us."
Roberto Sanchez and Andrew Bonich were excellent in goal for Lowry and Spring Creek, respectively. Sanchez made 18 saves on the day and Bonich 14.
"You have to give credit to the Spring Creek goalie," Swanson said. "He made some great saves that kept them in the match. Roberto was just as good for us and he had to make some tough saves."
The match was scoreless through the first 40 minutes of play, when the Spartans got on the board four minutes into the second half. Spring Creek's Brett Allen played a ball up to Tyler Knudsen on a breakaway. Knudsen's initial shot was stopped by Sanchez; however, Allen was there for the rebound and the goal.
Lowry's Giovanni Hernandez and Carlos Aguilar had shots go off the crossbar and the Buckaroos had a goal disallowed on an offside call. Luis Hernandez looked to have scored the equalizing goal before it was called back. Jesus Escobedo also had two shots stopped by the Spring Creek goalkeeper.
"I didn't think we were offside on the play," added the coach. "Still we had a number of chances to score and could not put the ball in the back of the net. It hurts to lose this one after beating Elko. We did not have a letdown it was just a good match by two teams."
The coach added that he was pleased with the way his defense played against the much bigger Spartan squad.
"That is probably one of the biggest teams we have seen all year," Swanson said. "My smaller defenders did a good job of containing Spring Creek's kids. They played like animals. We had trouble with corner kicks because of the size but we fought through it."
Chris Mendoza was back on the field for the Buckaroos after going to the hospital during the Elko match, on Saturday, Sept. 22. Mendoza suffered a cut on his head when he was pushed into the bench by an Elko player. Mendoza had staples put in his head due to the cut.
After playing 13 matches in a 26-day span, the Buckaroos were off this past weekend and do not play again until Friday, when they host West Wendover at 5 p.m. Lowry will also face White Pine Saturday at 1 p.m.
"We no longer control our own destiny in hosting a playoff game, so we will need some help," Swanson said. "I have no complaints with the way we played. We are using the time off to work on a few new offensive things and get healed up. We have been fortunate to stay away from the injury bug. Right now we are looking to heal up bruises."
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