S.F. Prep routs Robertson, finishes regular season undefeated
Perfection is hard to achieve, but the Santa Fe Prep Blue Griffins came awfully close to it. Prep finished the 2017 girls soccer season with a 15-0-1 record after dispatching Las Vegas Robertson 8-0 on Saturday in a District 2-1A/4A at Sun Mountain Field in what Blue Griffins head coach Steph Coppola called perhaps her team’s best performance yet.
Anna Swanson had five goals and two assists, while Isabella Childs had a goal and three assists to Swanson to highlight Prep’s attack. For Swanson, she ends the season with a Class 1A/4A best 47 goals in just 15 matches. However, Coppola pointed out that four players scored on the day.
“We were patient when we needed to be and shared the ball when we needed to,” Coppola said. “It was a fun game.”
Also chipping in were Hayden Colfax (one goal), Blake Trevisani (two assists) and Lynn Robey (one goal).
Prep (10-0 in 2-1A/4A) got into the 1A/4A state tournament, which will be announced Sunday, as the top-ranked team according to MaxPreps.com’s Freeman rankings, which should assure the Blue Griffins at least a top-two seed and a bye from first-round action that commences Friday and Saturday. The only potential challenger to a top seed is Albuquerque Bosque School, which also happens to be the team to smudge Prep’s almostperfect season with a 2-all tie on Aug. 29.
Coppola said she believes it might be the only time Prep recorded an undefeated regular season, although she deferred to the “Mayor of Soccer Town” in the form of former Prep head coach Rennae Ross.
“Rennae said she can’t remember,” Coppola said. “It’s funny, because you never, ever start a season with that goal in mind, but we started rolling and they got the job done. There were times we were down, but we always battled back.”
BOYS SOCCER ST. MICHAEL’S 4, TAOS 2
The Horsemen needed a win to stay relevant in the chase for a postseason berth, and they got it with a 2-1A/4A win over the Tigers to improve to 9-9-2 overall and 6-6 in district play.
Esteban Rigales had a hat trick to lead the charge, while Justice Johnson had a goal to open the scoring in the third minute and assisted two of Rigales’ goals. Wesley Graham had a pair of assist as St. Michael’s put its best foot forward for Sunday’s seeding and selection meeting by the New Mexico Activities Association.
“I think we should get into the tournament,” Horsemen head coach Mike Feldewert said. “The two teams we’re up against, Portales and East Mountain that are in a comparable position as us, we beat both of those teams.”
Taos finished 9-9-1 and 8-4, which is good for third in 2-1A/4A.
VOLLEYBALL DULCE 3, MONTE DEL SOL 0
Try as they might, the Lady Dragons had no answer for Lady Hawks middle hitter Caitlin Duncan, who pounded away at the Monte del Sol defense for a 25-19, 25-17, 25-23 in in 2-3A action in Dulce.
“You gotta get them when [Duncan] is in the back row,” Monte del Sol head coach Chela Butler said. “Man, she comes up to the front row and she is just a powerhouse. She hits hard, and she’s a lefty, so she is a little bit different as far as how she swings.”
Talia Flaherty had seven kills to lead Monte del Sol (8-8, 2-2), while Arianna Gonzales added four. Lizbeth Nava had only eight assists to lead all setters.
From Friday:
BOYS SOCCER REHOBOTH 4, DESERT ACADEMY 1
The future truly began for the young Wildcats with the 1-1A/4A match against the Lynx at Alto Field to finish the season.
Six eighth-graders were on the field, but junior Cole Sullivan made the most of a rare scoring chance for Desert Academy. He gathered an errant corner kick, dribbled in and scored toward the near-side post to cut the Rehoboth lead to 2-1 in the 41st minute, but the Lynx scored eight minutes later and in the 80th minute.
With the win, Rehoboth secured a tie for the district title with Tierra Encantada. As for the Wildcats, head coach Rob Lochner saw plenty out of his younger players.
“I was real proud of the eighth-graders out there,” Lochner said. “It looks like we have a good future with the core we have coming up.”
Desert Academy finished the season 1-13, 0-4.
VOLLEYBALL SANTA FE PREP 3, MCCURDY 0
The Blue Griffins halted a two-match 2-3A losing streak by sweeping the Lady Bobcats 25-9, 25-12, 25-9 in Prep Gymnasium.
Kiran Bhakta, Prep’s head coach, said the team had a couple of good practices prior to the match, and he felt it set a good tone against the Lady Bobcats.
“The aggressiveness came back,” Bhakta said. “So did our positive attitude, as far as picking each other up and moving forward, whether it was the next point, the next game or the next match.”
Samantha Wilson had nine kills, nine assists and five digs in a balanced performance for the Blue Griffins (10-8, 2-2), while Daisy Cunningham had eight kills and a pair of aces. Raelyn Gonzales tied Wilson for the team high in kills, and Teslin Ishee had 11 digs and five aces. McCurdy fell to 10-8, 0-4. In the junior varsity match, McCurdy beat Santa Fe Prep 20-25, 25-20, 15-13.