Boys' Soccer: Late goal propels Tigers in first round

When the Elko boys' soccer team was awarded a corner kick well into injury time with the score tied at one against Douglas toward the end of the second half Saturday afternoon, the Indians decided to play for the win.

What they got instead was a loss.

The Indians loaded up the box with all but one of their field players, but the corner kick was handled by the Tiger defenders and the ball was cleared out to Edgar Arceo, who was waiting about the halfline.

Arceo caught up with the ball in stride, carried it nearly 40 yards down the right side while taking the remaining Indian defender with him and played a beautiful shot on the ground to the far post, beating keeper Jose Martinez and giving the Tigers the 2-1 victory in the first round of the Northern 4A Regional Playoffs at Damonte Ranch.

The Indians struck first the 23rd minute when Douglas keeper made a nice finger-tip save, but Elko's Sam Holcomb swept in to collect the rebound and score on the empty net for the 1-0 lead.

Elko held the lead through the remainder of the first half, but Douglas came out attacking offensively in the second.

Alcaraz came out to bolster the defense while Corbin Zumpft assumed control of the net for the Tigers in the second.

Five minutes into the half, the changes took their effect as Arceo played a cross over to Eddia Vega at the top of the penalty box and Vega one-touched it for a pretty goal in the air to tie the score.

Elko nearly reclaimed the lead in the 53rd minute when a header on a corner kick bounced off the crossbar, but Ray Kaffer cleared the ball out for Douglas.

The teams went back and forth for much of the rest of the game with niether really taking control of the possession at any point.

Elko finished with the slight shots advantage at 9-8 while Zumpft finished with four saves and Alcaraz finished with three.

The Tiger defense of Kyle Gardner, Geoff Rahe, Brian Randall, Austin Shick and Kaffer did an admirable job of controlling Elko's speedy forwards while midfielder Oscar Gonzalez was in on a number of strong scoring opportunities.