Bulldogs use late magic to overcome Valley
Gutierrez header gives AHS 2-1 win
Thousands of miles away, the news from Trinidad was unexpectedly sobering, and about the only thing that could have dampened the mood of Albuquerque High boys soccer coach Lucien Starzynski.
“What?!” he said, informed about the suddenly empty summer soccer schedule in 2018 for the U.S. men’s team after its loss in a World Cup qualifier Tuesday night.
Closer to home, he could at least take comfort in the annual predictability of the excellence of his Bulldogs.
AHS inched ever closer to another district championship Tuesday night, scoring a pair of late goals in a 2-1 victory over Valley on a crisp evening at the APS Complex.
The game-winner, in the 78th minute, was a textbook set piece.
Soren Mathis’ corner kick sailed past the far post, where Carlos Gutierrez headed it home, his 17th goal of the season that broke a 1-all tie.
“There was a defender in front of me, but he wasn’t marking me,” said Gutierrez, a senior forward.
The Bulldogs scored twice in the final 13 minutes, which included some stoppage time, as they rallied past the alwaysdangerous Vikings (6-9, 2-5), who lost their third in a row.
Albuquerque High, Class 6A’s top-ranked team (12-1-1 overall), is 6-0 in District 4-6A and has won seven consecutive games overall. The Bulldogs have four regular-season games remaining.
Second-place Highland (4-1-1 in district) is about the only side left that could derail the Bulldogs from their appointed rounds as a district champ. Those two meet next Tuesday at Highland.
Valley, to no one’s surprise, pushed AHS hard on a cold night.
The Vikings’ dynamic junior forward, Johnny Baros, had the game’s first tally, his team-leading 16th of the season. An AHS defender failed to clear a cross, and the ball found its way to the far side, and onto Baros’ foot. With a clear shooting lane, Baros smashed a low shot between the legs of Bulldogs goalkeeper Jose Sevilla — who was a split second late in closing that lane — in the 60th minute.
“I thought we did well defending their dangerous players all night,” Starzynski said. “The one time we let him get away from us, he penalized us for it.”
AHS earned the equalizer in the 69th minute. Edgar Campos, just outside the 18-yard box, fired a shot that went past Valley’s goalkeeper and into the net.
“When they scored their goal it gave us more energy,” said Gutierrez, talking about Baros’ goal. “We came back even stronger.”
Just moments after Sevilla went up high to get his fingertips on a direct kick from Valley’s Noe Solis — it was deflected just over the crossbar by the 6-foot-2 Sevilla — AHS went in front.
“I didn’t get the sense from the team, even when we were down 1-0, that we couldn’t win the game,” Starzynski said.
La Cueva is the only team to have beaten AHS this season, in the semifinals of the metro tournament in late August. That’s also the Bulldogs’ only draw, in a rematch with La Cueva on Sept. 7. The Bulldogs’ depth, Starzynski said, is giving him tremendous lineup flexibility as AHS steams toward the playoffs.
“We’ve had our ups and downs, but we’re winning games even when we haven’t been at our best,” he said. “Things are starting to click now.”