Fallon's Dionisio Lopez races the ball ahead of one of Lowry's players.
The Greenwave soccer team claimed its second victory of the season Tuesday, defeating the Fernley Vaqueros 3-2.
Fallon coach Nate Toigo said the victory was a good sign of the Fallon team’s progress.
“We’re constantly playing against 17- 18-year-olds, juniors or seniors, so it was nice to show that when our guys play their age group they can win,” Toigo said.
On Wednesday, however, Fallon fell to Lowry under the mercy rule, 8-0 with 18 minutes left.
The match opened with the Greenwave presenting a strong defense. The teams fought for possession of the ball and Fallon goalie Cesar Molina blocked the ball every time it came near — on one play, he leapt high enough to touch the top of the goal to block the ball; on several others, he hit the ground hard jumping on top of the ball before sending it back into play.
At 16:30 in the first half, however, Lowry broke through and scored past Molina; a second score came just over a minute later for the Buckaroos. Fallon’s defense remained strong, though, and the half ended 2-0.
The second half started much like the first, but the Greenwave players were beginning to wear out.
While their defense was strong, Lowry gained possession more often and out-maneuvering the home team. At 31 minutes left, the Buckaroos began a scoring spree; Lowry shot the ball past Molina, then scored every few minutes. The Greenwave fought hard, but in just over 10 minutes the Buckaroos scored the final goals to invoke the mercy rule.
Though the match was officially over, the teams decided to play out the clock and held an impromptu scrimmage.
Toigo said the Greenwave got tired as the match continued because of a lack of subs. Lowry’s team is large and mostly upper classmen who have played together for years. The Fallon coach noted the freshmen on Fallon’s team were physically outmatched by the seniors many other teams in the league have.
Toigo said that, while they lack the experience, they are always improving and working to learn the game.
Toigo praised Kevin Duenas for his time in the match. He said Duenas covered the ball well and was good at keeping Lowry from gaining possession; Cole Hamlin was also noted for how hard he plays — though fairly small compared to other players, the freshman eagerly races in and plays toe-to-toe against much older players.
“He’s really been pushing himself ... but he’s out there battling it with all the big guys,” Toigo said.
The coach also commended Molina’s goalkeeping.
Tonight the Greenwave travels to Truckee. Toigo said he does not know much about their team, but noted they have traditionally been a strong soccer program.
“They’ve always been tough, as long as I can remember,” he said.
