Sandia Prep, Bosque to meet in final
Fourth-seeded Bulldogs advance past Farmington
An unwavering wind played no part in one of the biggest plays of a Class 1A-3A semifinal boys soccer game at Sandia Prep on Tuesday.
Sandia Prep sophomore goalie Alex Jeffries stopped two point-blank shots against Santa Fe Prep senior Luke Trevisani early on during the Sundevils’ 2-0 win.
Top-seeded Sandia Prep, the 2018 state champion, will play against No. 3 Bosque for the state title Thursday at 2 p.m. at the University of New Mexico Soccer Complex. The teams split in their matchups this season, with Bosque winning at Sandia Prep, 1-0, and the Sundevils winning at Bosque, 4-0.
The Bobcats went on the road and defeated New Mexico Military 2-1 in Tuesday’s other semifinal.
Sandia Prep was called for a hand ball in the box that set up Santa Fe Prep for the penalty. Jeffries stopped that shot and Trevisani’s second shot after the rebound.
Trevisani is the son of Peter Trevisani, the president and CEO of New Mexico United.
“That right there was huge,” Sandia Prep coach Tommy Smith said of the save that helped the Sundevils (9-1-1) post their fourth shutout of the season. “If they score there, who knows if they get an advantage and change the game.”
Against Santa Fe Prep, Smith chose to go against the wind in the first half with the hopes the Sundevils could sneak in a goal and then take control with the wind in the second half. The strategy worked, thanks to Jeffries and Eric Presura, who finished an assist from Finnegan Saunders in the 29th minute.
Dane Gallegos, one of 12 sophomores for Sandia Prep, scored a sensational goal in the 66h minute. Saunders assisted again.
Gallegos is also with New Mexico United Academy, but training was canceled on Tuesday. Smith is hopeful Gallegos can play in the final.
Class 5A
No. 2 LA CUEVA 6, No. 7 RIO GRANDE
1: At the APS Complex, the Bears got what they needed early in the second half when the Ravens tied the game 1-all.
“I told them when you allow a team to stay in a game, a scrappy team, then you’re going to have a fight on your hands,” said Bears coach Easy Jimenez. “And as soon as they scored, I was like, OK, here we go. I’ve seen it too many times.”
La Cueva (6-0) reeled off five straight goals, including three in a 12-minute span immediately following the goal by Rio Grande (4-2) and rolled into the semifinals, where the
Bears will face Rio Rancho on Thursday.
Pablo Sanchez, who scored twice, got the Bears on the board in the seventh minute on an assist from Mason Baroni.
But when Rio Grande’s Carlos Martinez was fouled just outside the penalty area four minutes into the second half, the Ravens took advantage.
Adrian Arreloa’s shot caromed off the wall, but it went to Joel Hernandez, who was able to finish through traffic.
But at that point, “everything started clicking,” said Bears defender Koby Hendzel. “We were keeping it on the ground and we started swinging it through the back, too. Not everything was forward. We were possessing it and playing much better.”
John Mee put the Bears ahead to stay in the 48th minute after he settled Mikah Madrid’s corner kick off the chest, then fired it in from about 15 yards out. — Glen Rosales
No. 4 ALBUQUERQUE HIGH 5, No. 5 FARMINGTON 0: The final home game in the Bulldog coaching career of Lucien Starzynski was devoid of drama, as AHS (6-0) knocked off the Scorpions (8-2-1) in the quarterfinals.
AHS will visit No. 1 seed Hobbs on Thursday in the semis; the Bulldogs beat the Eagles in the 2019 state championship game. Hobbs edged Centennial 1-0 on Tuesday.
Albuquerque High scored twice in the game’s first eight minutes Tuesday.
Nico Hernandez finished Dylan Castillo’s nifty cross in the fifth minute to open the scoring. Three minutes later, Bennett Zollner, from in front of the AHS bench, sent a long through ball into Farmington’s half. Teammate Luke Gannon ran onto it, and had a relatively unabated path, scoring easily for a 2-0 edge.
“During the warm-up, we talk about what we want to do,” said Hernandez. “The most important thing for us is the first five minutes.”
Gannon said the Bulldogs are beginning to find their form in their bid to repeat.
“We started off slow, but now we’re getting in our groove, trying to work out who goes where,” he said. “As soon as we got to our second and third game, we started to figure things out and put the pieces together.”
Hernandez, Javen Hernandez and Gannon added second-half goals. — James Yodice
No. 6 RIO RANCHO 2, No. 3 MAYFIELD 0: In Las Cruces, goals by Evan Spell in the 47th minute and Lamar Bynum in the 76th propelled the Rams (8-2) into the semis opposite La Cueva.
“We could argue it was one of our best games of the season,” Rio Rancho coach John Shepard said. “We really put some stuff together today.”
Spell’s goal, from just outside the box, proved to be the game-winner. Bynum, who also is part of the New Mexico United Academy roster, added the insurance when teammate Gerardo Hernandez dribbled up the field, before laying if off for Bynum who finished the chance.
Class 4A
No. 6 ALBUQUERQUE ACADEMY 2, No. 3
HIGHLAND 0: At Highland, Oliver Kumar’s breakaway goal gave the Chargers an edge and stout midfield defense made it stand up for an upset win over the Hornets.
Kumar took a lead pass from Neven Zapatka and managed to beat Highland goalkeeper Daniel Ortega in a one-on-one situation in the 23rd minute. It was the only goal until the final two minutes as Highland struggled to create scoring chances for most of the evening.
“We did a quality job at the midfield,” Academy coach Laney Kolek said. “We knew Highland was scrappy and disciplined in their attack, so we wanted to put as much pressure on them as possible. That’s really what set up our first goal.”
The Hornets (5-1) later put together a brief surge of offense. Luis Martinez sent a long blast just over the crossbar, and Academy goalie Zach Sena followed with scrambling stops on shots by Diego Ayala and Placido Cordova. — Ken Sickenger
No. 4 HOPE CHRISTIAN 1, No. 5 SANTA TERESA 1 (Huskies advance 4-3 in PKs): The Huskies’ spring campaign came down to the mettle of a middle schooler.
Fortunately for Hope, eighth-grade goalkeeper Cody Guggino delivered, allowing Hope to advance to the semifinals with a home shootout victory over the Desert Warriors. Hope Christian (8-1-1) is at No. 1 Lovington on Thursday.
Guggino denied the Desert Warriors’ Adan Soto at the net on Santa Teresa’s second try in the shootout, and then watched Beckam Pichardo launch his team’s final hope over the crossbar as the Huskies prevailed in penalties.
“Cody stepped up really big,” said Huskies coach Steve Kokulis. “He did a fantastic job as he has all season.”
Travel issues for Santa Teresa (6-1-2) delayed the start of the matchup by approximately 45 minutes. Hope Christian spent most of the first half on Santa Teresa’s end of the field and struck first on a direct kick by Joseph Friederich in the 23rd minute.
It looked like the single goal would hold up until Soto converted a penalty kick in the 67th minute for the Desert Warriors.
For Hope, the first four players to shoot — Sean McGuirk, Friederich, Tony Burgarello and Brenden McMurry — were all successful.
“We’re glad to get out with a win, but it’s unfortunate when it goes down to penalty kicks because somebody always feels responsible,” Kokulis said. “That’s a tough way to win, and it’s a tough way to lose. This would’ve been a good game to keep both these teams playing.” — Tristen Critchfield