The Lady Bucks were on the road for nearly 10 hours on Friday, meeting up with perennial power South Tahoe. The Vikings are the defending I-A state champion, and the same squad that knocked Lowry out of the regional playoffs a year ago.
In South Tahoe, the Vikings beat the Lady Bucks by the same 4-0 score from a season ago, handing Lowry its first loss in league play.
South Tahoe scored three times in the first half, starting out with a goal by Emma Dayberry in the 16th minute.
Four minutes later, Kenya Maltase added a goal and right before the end of the first half, Grace Schouten scored in the 39th minute.
The lone goal of the second half came on a penalty kick by Zoe D’Angelo in the 45th minute.
“We had more scoring opportunities than we have ever had against them,” said LHS head coach Melanie Rasor. “(But) we need to relax and calm down when we play teams like that.”
Twelve hours after returning to town at midnight, Lowry took to its home turf for a 6-0 win over Dayton.
The Lady Bucks appeared to take an early lead over the Dust Devils on a goal by Bailey Sapien, but that was wiped out by an offside call. Sapien found the back of the net again in the 28th minute and that one counted. That turned out to be the only goal Lowry needed, but the Lady Bucks were far from done.
“We were worn out from the day before,” Rasor said. “Thankfully, the boys were nice to switch times with us to give us a couple-hour break.”
Lowry (5-2 overall, 3-1 Division I-A North) took a 2-0 lead into halftime on a goal by Shelby Garrison in the 34th minute.
Lowry increased its lead to 3-0 in the 49th minute, when Hailey Hinkle crossed a pass to McKenna Jones, and the junior put the ball in the back of the net.
Lowry broke the match open with three goals in a four-minute stretch near the end of the contest. Hailey Fernandez picked up a goal in the 74th minute after a rebound off the Dayton goalie.
Two minutes later, Kenadee Jeppsen knocked in another loose ball around the net for a 4-0 advantage.
The Lady Bucks closed out the scoring in style in the 78th minute, when Jeppsen headed the ball in the net off a corner kick by Garrison.
“It was definitely a team effort today,” Rasor said. “We pulled up some JV players to give them some experience and rest our other girls.”
Lowry is back in action on Wednesday at home against Spring Creek at 6 p.m. The Spartans beat the Lady Bucks 1-0 earlier in the year in a tournament.
“The last time we played, it was a really good game,” Rasor said. “We had our chances against them. It could have gome either way. We are looking forward to playing them.”
