Rough-and-tumble tourney
Blue Griffins advance, Lady Horsemen topple on first day of hard-fought tournament
The back of Anna Swanson’s white game uniform had a big grass stain on one of the shoulders. Scattered here and there were smaller marks of dirt and turf, some a deep shade green and others varying hues of brown.
They were the telltale signs of playoff soccer, a more physical brand of play that introduces players to stiffer elbows, harder shoves and unforgiving trips to the ground.
Swanson’s teammate, Lynn Robey, learned all about that when she fell backward onto her shoulders and neck when chasing a loose ball near the sideline of Thursday’s Class 1A-4A State Tournament match against Moriarty at the Bernalillo Soccer Complex. Both players survived, as did the top-seeded Blue Griffins in a win over the Lady Pintos to reach Friday’s state semifinals.
Prep (15-0-1) will face No. 4 Socorro at 3 p.m. with a bid to Saturday’s championship on the line.
Socorro eliminated No. 5 Albuquerque Hope Christian, 3-2, in one of Thursday’s other quarterfinals, all of which were played at the same time on four fields in the complex’s northeast corner.
The other semifinal has No. 2 Albuquerque Bosque facing No. 3 Albuquerque Sandia Prep at 3 p.m. Bosque eliminated Las Vegas Robertson, 3-0, while Sandia Prep rolled past No. 6 St. Michael’s, 3-0.
SANTA FE PREP 3, MORIARTY 1
Funny thing about Moriarty’s matchtying goal early in the second half, a highlight-reel play in which Lady Pintos forward Ashley Strader took a loose ball near midfield and dribbled half the length of the field to supply her team’s only goal of the day: It did anything but rattle the top-seeded Blue Griffins.
“Actually I think it had a calming effect on us,” said Prep head coach Steph Coppola. “As soon as it happened you could see the reaction in our players. They just sort of relaxed and sort of said, ‘OK, yeah. We’re ready to do this now.’ ”
The Griffins responded with goals by Lynn Robey and Anna Swanson in the final 25 minutes, the first of which came off a deflected shot in the box to break a 1-1 tie. Swanson’s goal came in the final five minutes and was her second of the day, giving her 49 for the season.
“It was definitely more physical than what we’re used to, but it’s something I think we all expected,” Swanson said. “This is the state tournament and teams are fighting for everything. You have to anticipate the other teams are going to play that much harder because so much is on the line.”
Robey particularly enjoyed the energy from Moriarty’s fans. Their boisterous followers were never louder than they were during Strader’s equalizer, but they did respond well to the physical play that saw both teams have players get sent flying to the grass.
“I loved how their fans were so into it,” Robey said. “That’s the best thing about these games. Everyone’s out here trying to move on and, really, so are their fans.”
Coppola said playing as the tournament’s top seed is one thing, but the team’s undefeated record isn’t a motivator for opposing teams.
“At this point I don’t think it matters,” she said. “We don’t notice it and neither do [other teams]. Honestly, I think the biggest factor for us was taking two weeks off. All the down time wasn’t good for us because there’s only so much you can do when you’re not out here playing. It just feels good to be back at it, having real games against teams that challenge you.”
SANDIA PREP 3, ST. MICHAEL’S 0
A defensive lapse in the first half led to the Lady Sundevils’ first goal, then a pair of corner kicks in the second half led directly to two others as Prep (14-7) ended the Lady Horsemen season a bit earlier than coach Gerzain Chavez would have liked.
“A good group of [seven] seniors on this team who gave us everything this year,” he said after addressing the team for a final time. “They passed the torch today. They took this team as far they could and now they pass it along to the younger girls, and I could not be any prouder.”
Prep’s Lauryn Biddle scored her team’s first two goals while Shelby Horan assisted on the final two. The Lady Sundevils led 1-0 at halftime but Biddle’s second goal came just five minutes after halftime to take St. Michael’s out of it.
“It was basically over at that point,” Chavez said. “They just took the life right out of us. We did what we could but, really, the better team came out with the win. That’s a good team and we did all we could.”
In the day’s other games, upstart Las Vegas Robertson (10-12) had its postseason run come to an end with a shutout loss to Bosque. The Lady Cardinals had entered the tournament as the No. 10 seed and opened play with an upset over Taos in the opening round. They were the only double-digit seed to survive the first round.