By Terry Douglass
terry.douglass@theindependent.com

Northwest opened with a 6-1 victory over Grand Island Central Catholic, but finished the day with a 2-1 shootout loss to Lexington that Doud said left a sour taste in his mouth and not just because the Minutemen entered the tournament 1-6 and had never defeated the Vikings (5-4) before.

"I'm baffled," said Doud, whose team's five-game winning streak was snapped. "We have a very solid team, but I'm just at a loss for words. We have good players and good athletes, but then they come out and lose.

"I'll give credit to Lexington Lexington played hard, but Lexington was not a better ballclub. It should never have gotten to overtime or a shootout."

Lexington (3-6) struck first, scoring at the 24-minute mark when Marc Otero found the net on a throw-in.

"Lexington was overloading our back side and we weren't talking and weren't helping," Doud said. "When you don't do that, then you get a cheap goal and that's exactly what they got a back-side goal that never should've happened."

Matt Smith answered for Northwest with a goal in the 40th minute, tying the score at 1-1 just before the intermission. That's how things stayed throughout the second half and a pair of overtime periods.

In the shootout, Northwest's Gustavo Bauer matched Rodolfo DeAnda's goal, but Lexington took the upper hand when Heriberto Bueno scored and Viking senior Ryan Doud's shot sailed wide left.

After Lexington goals by Santiago Perez and Brian Ramirez were matched by Northwest's Brandon Kucera and Jason Ogden, Viking goalie Adam Wemhoff gave his team a chance with a diving block to his left of Fernando's Sanchez low shot toward the corner. However, Minutemen goalie Gustavo Ramirez produced almost an instant replay of Wemhoff's save, turning back Brad Rauert's shot to try to extend the match.

Doud said the Vikings have to find a way to bounce back quickly. That's where senior leadership comes in, he said.

"I've got nine seniors who have been playing soccer for a long time and I'm just looking for somebody to step up and take charge," Doud said. "Right now, we're just floundering in our own talent and it's just frustrating."

Against GICC (2-5), Northwest took a 1-0 lead at 17:30 when Bauer scored on an assist from Doud on a corner kick. The Crusaders tied it at 1-1 at 27:30 as Luke Wagoner scored on a feed from Emmanuel Juarez.

But then the Vikings struck with three quick goals before halftime. Michael Marian found the net at 35:45 on an assist from Rauert, Smith scored at 37:00 on a Benji Flores assist and Smith added another goal three minutes later, set up by a Doud pass.

"We played pretty well in the first half of the Northwest game, but then we gave up three goals right before half and that seemed to break us a little bit," GICC co-coach Gary Witmer said. "Northwest is a good team and they're very skillful. Their seniors have played together for 10 years, so give credit to them."

Northwest added a pair of unassisted goals in the second half from Chris Morriss (45:00) and Julian Monasterio (49:45).

Despite a short rest between matches, Central Catholic came back to play Lexington tough in a 2-1 loss that featured plenty of physical play.

The Minutemen went ahead 1-0 just 5:11 into the match, but the Crusaders answered at 24:48 on an unassisted goal by Austin Witmer. Lexington pushed in the game-winner at 53:10 and turned back GICC's chances to tie.

"We really thought we outplayed them, but we struggled with some (controversial calls)," Gary Witmer said. "Our kids played hard and it's difficult when they have to play 80 minutes against Northwest and then turn right around and play 80 minutes against a Lexington team that had fresh legs.

"That's the way the draw goes and you've just got to take it as it comes. We've got a good team, but we've just got to finish some shots."

* girls

Vikings shut out by two opponents

Grand Island Northwest struggled to get is offense going during its two games in the Viking Cup.

The Vikings failed to score a goal while falling to Lincoln Lutheran 2-0 and to Lexington 1-0.

Lincoln Lutheran (5-4) took the lead on a goal by Molly Humacek in the 22nd minute and added an insurance score from Taylor Kathe in the 67th minute.

"I thought the kids played pretty well," Northwest coach Craig Charron said. "We had a hard time getting the ball in the net."

Lexington (2-6) scored the lone goal in its game against the Vikings (3-5) in the 53rd minute.

"They got a big shot off," Charron said. "One of our girls fell down and we didn't get a call.

"The girls played good soccer. Today we came up against decent teams. Hopefully we're starting to get healthy and we're getting some players back."

Northwest will begin play in the Central 10 Conference Tournament on Thursday.