After spending the first three weeks of the season on the road in California and northern Nevada, the Lowry High School girls soccer team finally got to play a pair of home matches this past weekend.
The Lady Bucks took on South Tahoe on Friday and Incline on Saturday afternoon.
South Tahoe collected a 9-0 win over Lowry on Friday afternoon, scoring eight of the goals in the first half. The game was stopped after 60 minutes as part of the NIAA mercy rule.
Lowry was back on the field on a hot Saturday afternoon against Incline, where the heat was tough on the players. The Incline coaches noted it was the hottest weather of the season for them. The Highlanders are accustomed to temperatures in the 60s and 70s in Lake Tahoe.
Incline picked up three goals in the first 40 minutes of play and went on to win 5-1.
“The effort was there today and this was probably our best game of the season,” said first-year LHS head coach Misty Stene. “It was tough conditions for both teams with the hot weather. I was very happy with the way we played. It was nice to be on our home field for the first time. Unfortunately, the scoreboard doesn’t reflect how we played. We didn’t get the goals we wanted.”
The Highlanders’ Jada Moore provided the opening goal in the sixth minute on a shot from about 25 yards out. Kensal Coudriet made the score 2-0, three minutes later after taking a crossing pass and Sami Giangreco added the final goal of the first half in the 34th minute.
The Lady Bucks had their scoring opportunities as well in the first half, with Kelcey Cooper hitting a shot just wide and Bailee Brinkerhoff connecting on a shot that went just high of the net.
Lowry cut the deficit to 3-1 in the 47th minute on a Clarissa Olson goal that found its way through the Incline defense.
It was the first goal for the Lady Bucks since their opening 3A match against Sparks on Aug. 30. Lowry had gone five straight matches without a goal.
“We finally got one,” Stene said. “We needed that so bad. We have been struggling to score goals.”
Incline stretched out the lead to 4-1 eight minutes later on Giangreco’s second goal. Lowry had an opportunity to cut the lead in half with 20 minutes to play but a penalty kick by Cooper went wide of the net. Incline’s Zoe Rancourt closed out the scoring in the 79th minute.
Lowry (0-7 Northern 3A, 1-8-1 overall) traveled to Spring Creek on Tuesday and results were unavailable at press time. Lowry heads back out on the road on Tuesday, Sept. 24 to play Elko at 5 p.m.
The Lady Bucks play seven of their final matches at home, starting on Oct. 4 against Truckee.
“I like our progress,” added the coach. “From South Tahoe to today, you could see the improvement. Everyone is learning with each other right now. It’s a whole new way of playing and we are figuring it out.”
