WINNEMUCCA - With its playoff hopes dashed a couple of weeks ago, the Lowry High School varsity girls soccer team played out its final two matches like it was the state championship.
The Lady Bucks traveled to Spring Creek on Thursday night and came away with a 2-1 victory over the Spartans. It was the second consecutive win at Spring Creek for Lowry after more than 12 years without a victory against the Elko County school.
Lowry closed out its year at home Friday against Elko and came away with a 1-1 tie against the playoff-bound Indians.
"I could not ask for a better finish from my girls in these last two games," said LHS coach Chris Entwistle. "We were out of the playoffs and we played like we were in the state championships. To go to Spring Creek and get another win was great. We have never had any luck against Spring Creek. Something bad happens to us when we play them. But in the last two years we have gotten that monkey off our back. It was just a great match. It's always physical. I know Spring Creek was demoralized after losing to Elko the day before, but we still went in there and won."
The Lady Spartans grabbed the early advantage in the fifth minute when Shanwtel Andersen dribbled to the Lowry end line and delivered a crossing pass to Kayla Hecht, who finished the shot.
The Lady Bucks' Monique Rodriguez scored the equalizing goal in the 20th minute on a counter attack by Lowry.
Spring Creek had other opportunities to score in the first half, but those shots were turned away by Lowry sophomore goalie Lindsay Pate, who had 16 saves on the night.
The game remained at 1-1 until the 72nd minute, when freshman Kenadee Jeppsen scored to put the Lady Bucks up 2-1.
From there, Lowry withstood a furious Spring Creek attack that saw two balls go off the post, including one on a free kick. The Lady Bucks also had to punch away a corner kick in the final minutes of play.
"Kenadee came through with a great goal," Entwistle said. "It was crazy in the final 10 minutes or so. Spring Creek threw everything at us and we maintained our focus and held on."
Last year, Elko routed Lowry 8-0 in the quarterfinals of the Division I-A regional tournament. But as year has passed, it was a much different story in the season finale for the lady Bucks.
Lowry struck first in its meeting on Friday night off a free kick by Alison Walker that found an open Monique Rodriguez, who buried the shot in the eighth minute.
The Lady Bucks fought off two free kicks by the Indians in the second half, with a shot going off the cross bar in the 44th minute. Elko had another free kick in the 66th minute, but had two shots stopped by Pate.
The third time was a charm for the Indians as Brittany Gonzalez scored on a direct free kick from about 40 yards out in the 79th minute.
"It was just a perfect shot," added the coach. "She put it in a spot that couldn't be handled. All credit to my girls, though. They played well. We went out and played strong defensively. We knew it would be physical and we didn't back down. We went out and played with heart. I can't remember the last time we scored any points on Elko."
The Lady Bucks finished the year 6-9-1 in the Division I-A North and 10-9-2 overall.
"Hopefully, this is a weekend that makes the girls come back," Entwistle said. "We showed that we can compete with the best teams in our league. They should not be ashamed of this season at all. I hope the girls see what I knew they had all along."
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