The Lowry High School boys soccer team went to South Tahoe for a tune-up tournament last weekend against some tough competition from the 4A Division to get ready for its league-opener against Sparks at home on Friday.
Last Friday the boys lost close matches to Coronado 2-0 and Carson 2-1, but they came back strong on Saturday with a win against Douglas 3-1.
“It looks pretty decent," said LHS coach Steve Swanson. "We played three 4A schools and we didn’t get blown out. Coronado was the No. 2 school in the state last year, the runner-up in the 4A state championship game. It was 1-0 with three minutes to go against them, it was a close game.”
Anthony Cuevas scored the only goal for the Buckaroos against Carson on Friday, and he tacked on the last goal of the tournament for Lowry against Douglas on Saturday in their 3-1 victory. Alex Ruiz put the first ball in the net on Saturday, and he was followed by Andrew Bravo.
Johan Silva was everybody’s pick for the “Man of the Match” in the Douglas contest, leading Swanson to say, “Johan is one of my defenders and he was a beast in that game.”
Swanson commented on sophomore Ivan Contreras.
"The kid is a machine. He is my central defender and he blocked more shots than Angel (Galarza) my goalkeeper saved, which was a lot. He is everywhere. He makes the Energizer Bunny look like a tired old man. He is a hard-working kid.”
The Buckaroos start 3A North League play with a five game home stand.
“It is a great thing now, but it is going to suck at the end of the season because we are going to have five or six games away to close the season out," Swanson said. "I think I would rather have it kind of mixed up. Having it so heavy at home on the front is great, but we have no home games at the end. It is going to make the end of the season tough, but hopefully it will get us started off on the right foot and pointing in the right direction at the beginning. If anything, it is better than going the other way around. Five games on the road to start the season would be brutal.”
On Friday, the boys have a 5 p.m. match against Sparks, North Valleys visits Saturday at noon.
"I am fairly-well pleased right now," Swanson said. "We gotta keep it together. Now it is for real and we will have to see.”
