At the start of last week, if everything went right for the Lowry High School girls soccer team, it could find itself in the postseason.
The Lady Bucks would have to find a way to beat two of the top teams in the Northern 3A East.
It didn’t go as planned, but the Lady Bucks ended the season on a high note.
Lowry traveled to Spring Creek on Tuesday, Oct. 25, and lost 3-0 to the Spartans.
After leading 1-0 at halftime, Spring Creek added a pair of goals in the final 40 minutes to avenge an earlier loss to Lowry.
The Lady Bucks had six shots on goal but could not find the net. Abigail Magana had 12 saves in the contest.
Lowry closed out the year this past Thursday at home against Elko, the Northern 3A East regular season champion.
The Indians beat the Lady Bucks 6-1 earlier in the year but the season finale was much different.
Elko turned up the offensive pressure at the start of the match but it was Lowry that got on the board first in the 4th minute of play.
Freshman Natalya Guizar put back a shot from Alia Novi that was saved, giving Lowry a 1-0 lead.
Three minutes later, the Indians tied the match at 1-1, after missing a penalty kick. Elko put forward two more chances, as Magana stopped shots from close range.
The Lowry defense couldn’t clear the ball from near the goal and the Indians capitalized on its third chance at the goal.
Guizar added her second goal of the game in the 22nd minute and the Lady Bucks led 3-1 at halftime, as Britain Backus slid hard into the goal to put back a shot from Maite Avalos that was previously saved.
After a boisterous halftime speech from its coach, Elko responded in the first minute of the second half to cut the deficit to 3-2.
The Indians netted the eventual tying goal in the 73rd minute to escape with the 3-3 tie.
Lowry finished the year at 9-9-3 overall and 6-2-2 in the Northern 3A East. It was the first winning season since 2015 when they went 9-8-2 overall.
The last time the Lady Bucks reached the postseason was 2014.
The Northern 3A Regional Championships start on Thursday with Hug hosting Wooster at 4 p.m. and the winner playing South Tahoe on Friday at 1:30 p.m. on Friday.
Truckee hosts either Spring Creek or North Valleys on Thursday at 3:30 p.m. That winner plays Elko on Friday at 3:30 p.m..
The championship game is set for 11 a.m. on Saturday at Truckee High School.
The two finalists advance to the NIAA 3A State Championships on Nov. 11-12 at Dayton High School.
