Dayton girls soccer defeats Spring Creek

So far, this is developing into a season of firsts for the Dayton High girls soccer team.

Last week, Dayton traveled to Winnemucca and defeated Lowry for the first time ever. And on Friday afternoon, the Dust Devils added another first to their collection with a 2-1 triumph at home against Spring Creek in a battle between Northern 3A Humboldt League leaders.

Ashley Winter converted a penalty kick in the 36th minute to give the Dust Devils a 1-0 lead that stood at halftime. Then Leah Kennedy scored in the 49th minute, assisted by Amy Gardner, to give the Dust Devils a 2-0 advantage against the defending league champion Spartans.

Dayton now has sole possession of first-place with a 3-0 league record (4-2 overall). Spring Creek dropped to 1-1.

Winter also scored three goals last Friday in Dayton's 4-0 win against Lowry.

"We're starting to come together as a team," Dayton coach Tim Logan said. "This is the first time we've ever beaten Lowry and Spring Creek. Now, hopefully, we can go to state for the first time. That's our goal."

There were some anxious moments at the end, as Spring Creek scored a goal in the 64th minute and was on the offensive through much of the final five minutes, according to Logan.

"We had control of the game, until the last five minutes," he said. "Those last five minutes, it was a real nail-biter."

Dayton held on behind a defense led by stopper Jessica Riley, freshman sweeper Kaitlin Wutch and Winter, who finished the game playing on the defensive end. Goalkeeper Sarah Langley finished with 10 saves.

The Dust Devils play host to Battle Mountain today in a 1 p.m. match.