After going through a shortened season with no playoffs, the Lowry High School boys soccer team is back in the postseason and will enjoy the home turf of the Northern 3A Regional Championship in the first weekend of November.
Lowry was busy last week with three home matches in five days, winning two of those and tying another.
“It’s good to be back in the playoffs,” said LHS coach Steve Swanson. “Everyone missed last year, but we have been on a good little run. The boys have been playing well.”
Lowry took on Dayton on Tuesday, Oct. 19, and best the Dust Devils 4-1, to complete the season sweep over the Lyon County school.
The Buckaroos grabbed a 1-0 advantage in the opening half, as Andrew Bravo scored on a penalty kick in the 22nd minute.
The was the lone goal of the first 40 minutes of play.
Bravo gave Lowry a 2-0 lead in the 55th minute and 13 minutes later, Jesus Guizar broke free through the Dust Devil defense and put the shot past the Dayton goalie.
The Buckaroos netted their fourth goal in the 76th minute, as Jose Avila put the ball in the back of the net of a previous shot that was stopped by Dayton’s goalie.
The Dust Devils prevented the shutout with a goal in the 78th minute.
Lowry, Elko play
to a 1-1 tie
The battle for the top spot in the Northern 3A East was up for grabs on Friday afternoon, as Lowry hosted league-leading Elko.
When the two rivals played the first time in Elko, the Buckaroos scored the first two goals of the contest, only to see the Indians roar back with seven straight goals, including five in the second half.
In that same contest, the Elko coach and two Lowry players received red cards.
“We had some issues the first time we played Elko but that was on us and we made some really bad unforced errors that hurt us,” Swanson said.
It would be a different and controversial outcome the second time around in Winnemucca.
The match was scoreless at halftime, when Lowry took a 1-0 lead in the second half on a goal by Guizar. Even though both teams had scoring chances, they could not convert throughout the second half.
In extra time, Elko was awarded a penalty kick but missed the initial shot as it hit off the crossbar.
However, the Buckaroos were called for entering the box too early on the kick and the Indians were awarded a second kick.
Elko made the second kick, as the whistle blew to end the game after the kick.
“We played them really tough,” Swanson said. “Our offense is clicking we are scoring every time out and our defense has really come along. Our goalkeeper has been really solid. He will make a couple goofy mistakes to keep me on my toes but that is what I love about him.”
Lowry blanks Fernley
Lowry was back on the field the next day to end the week and beat Fernley 2-0, with a pair of second-half goals.
After a scoreless first half, Jordan Wirthlin provided the match-winning goal in the 55th minute and three minutes later, Bravo provided an insurance goal to help Lowry improve 7-10-1 overall and 7-1-1 in the Northern 3A East.
“Fernley has a very solid defense and it took a while for us to break it down,” added the coach. “We had to be patient. The Elko match was really emotional and it was hard to get the boys up in the first half in such a quick turnaround. The boys responded well.”
Lowry closed out the regular season on Tuesday against Spring Creek and results were not available at press time.
Elko has clinched the No. 1 East seed in the Northern 3A Regional Championships and Lowry will be the No. 2 seed from the East. Spring Creek (3-4-1), Fernley (2-4-2) and Churchill County (2-4-1) are fighting for the final East playoff spot.
McQueen leads the Northern 3A West at 6-2-0, Reno is second at 4-2-2 and Douglas is third at 3-2-3. Truckee (3-3-2) and South Tahoe (2-2-4) round out the top five. None of the playoff spots have clinched yet.
Lowry will play the No. 3 seed form the Northern 3A Regional Championships at 1 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 4, in Winnemucca at Lowry High School.
