Aurora – Andres Osorio wore his best calm-after-the-storm face Tuesday night.
Sitting on the Smoky Hill bench at Legacy Stadium, the senior forward looked tired and nonchalant while packing away his shoes.
Never mind that moments earlier, Osorio was the one leading a wild celebration after he scored with two minutes left in the second overtime to give the Buffaloes a dramatic 2-1 nonleague victory over Liberty.
Osorio sliced in from the right side of the Liberty goal and headed home a great pass from the head of midfielder Tyler Burns as the Buffaloes (7-1), ranked No. 2 in Class 5A, rebounded from a loss last week to Chatfield.
“I don’t know,” Osorio said of his goal. “I just read it.”
Smoky Hill forward Tomas Hrachovina opened the scoring in the 37th minute and Ryan Warren sent the game into overtime with a goal in the 75th for the Lancers (3-1-2), No. 2 in 4A.
Both teams showed skill and purpose throughout the game by possessing the ball and trying to unlock the foe’s defense. The tempo ebbed into long stretches of one-sided control.
Lancers goalie Billy Martinez made eight saves, and Smoky Hill’s Miguel Rosales made five. Rosales’ free kick led to the game-winner when he served the ball into the penalty area and had it headed across for Burns to play.
“We’ve been very good on the field of play, where we’re having our breakdowns is goals we give up on dead-ball situations,” Lancers coach Mike Goyden said.
The first scoring chance fell to the Buffaloes in the 10th minute when Matt Hammett got ahead on Rosales’ 50-yard free kick and forced a low save from Martinez. In the 30th minute, Martinez was way off his line to stop Osorio and recovered in time to catch a long attempt by Burns.
The Lancers’ best chances in the first half came within a minute of each other as David Trainer tried to chip Rosales in the 31st before Thomas Hoang’s low drive forced a diving save.
Smoky Hill scored when Tyler Waggoner’s throw-in found Ben Lopez on the edge of the Lancers’ 6-yard box. With his back to the goal, Lopez centered the ball with a flick of his head for Hrachovina to slam home.
Warren’s equalizer came off Trainer’s pass to Kyle Joern who laid the ball back for Warren to charge in a slot past Rosales.
Liberty 0 1 0 0 – 1
Smoky Hill 1 0 0 1 – 2
Goals – SH: Hrachovina (Lopez), 37th minute; L: Warren (Joern), 75th; SH: Osorio (Burns), 88th. Shots on goal – Liberty 3-3-0-0 – 6; Smoky Hill 4-5-0-1 – 10. Saves – Liberty (Martinez) 3-5-0-0 – 8; Smoky Hill (M. Rosales) 3-2-0-0 – 5. Offsides – Liberty 0-0-0-0 – 0; Smoky Hill 1-2-0-0 – 3. Corner kicks – Liberty 2-1-0-0 – 3; Smoky Hill 0-0-0-0 – 0. Fouls – Liberty 6-7-1-2 – 16; Smoky Hill 3-4-1-0 – 8. Yellow card – Warren, L, 35th minute.
