He may be just a freshman, but Yerington High School's Robert Aldarran showed some composure at crunch time on Saturday afternoon.
Aldarran lined up twice for penalty kicks in the final three minutes and he converted both times as the Lions came from behind to capture an important 3-2 Northern 3A boys soccer victory at home.
Aldarran's goals, which came in the 77th and 78th minutes of play, enabled Yerington to erase a 2-1 deficit and stay in the thick of a close race for third-place in the division. The Lions are 4-4 in division play, 4-5-1 overall.
"It's pretty close between Spring Creek, Manogue and ourselves ," said Yerington coach John Schlegelmilch, whose Lions dropped a 3-2 decision against Bishop Manogue on a late penalty kick last Saturday.
"We're a young team. We have four seniors and two juniors, and the rest are all freshmen and sophomores, but they've come a long way in a short period of time. And we're getting better all the time," he added.
After spotting Spring Creek an early 1-0 lead, Yerington came back to tie the score on a goal by Jesus Juarez two minutes before halftime. For Juarez, a senior, the goal was his 12th in 10 games so far this season.
Tyler Hecht connected on a penalty kick to give Spring Creek a 2-1 lead in the 50th minute, a score that stood until Aldarran scored his two goals at the end.
Yerington plays host to Incline in a non-conference game on Friday.
