Los Alamos clubs Roswell, eyes Academy
BERNALILLO — Los Alamos versus Albuquerque Academy.
For the past six boys soccer seasons, this Class 5A rivalry has been the equivalent of the roadrunner versus the coyote.
The two schools have played 13 times over that span, with not even a tie to show for it for the Hilltoppers.
Ron Blue, the third-year Los Alamos head coach, has yet to know the satisfaction of one-upping one of the venerated programs in the state, which has played for the past four state championships and won the last two. And he knows the number of times he and the Hilltoppers tried in that time.
“This will be my 10th time in three years,” Blue said. “I should be comfortable [playing the Chargers], but I’m not.”
Friday represents Try No. 11 for Los Alamos after handily beating Roswell 3-0 in the Class 5A quarterfinals at the Bernalillo Soccer Complex on Thursday. This time, though, the fourth-seeded Hilltoppers (156) might be closer to a breakthrough than they have since beating Academy 2-1 in the 4A quarterfinals in 2010. Academy beat Los Alamos 1-0 at Sullivan Field on Oct. 13, but the Hilltoppers had their chances early on to take control of the match.
“We almost put a couple away the last time,” Los Alamos senior midfielder Ben Rees said. “So I just think putting those opportunities away, and we did an awesome job of doing that [against Roswell].”
That, the Hilltoppers did, and Rees played an integral role in it.
In the fifth minute against the Coyotes (15-6), Rees dribbled down the right sideline before cutting ward the middle of the field and finding an open Sam Cirigliano on the right side just inside the penalty box. He onetouched the pass into the upper half of the goal past Roswell goalkeeper Adrian Villa Parra for a 1-0 Los Alamos lead.
The second half belonged to Hilltoppers forward Arthur Steinkamp, thanks in part to Roswell’s defensive strategy. The Coyotes focused on stopping fellow forward Tristan Semelsberger, marking him with two defenders. It left Steinkamp to take on the other defender, and he finally took advantage of the matchup in the 49th minute.
After receiving a through-ball from Jesse Prime, Steinkamp beat his man off the dribble and slotted his shot to the right of Villa Parra to make it 2-0.
“I knew he thought I was going to take it to my right, and I just faked and went left and shot it,” Steinkamp said.
Steinkamp teamed up with Rees on the final score seven minutes later, as Rees slipped back the Roswell back row and had a one-on-one with the goalkeeper. Rees thought about shooting it, but saw his teammate in the middle of a wide-open net. The decision was an easy one.
“I didn’t have time to think about it, but I saw a spot on the goal,” Rees said. “I wasn’t sure if I would be able to get to that as well as I could get it to Arthur, who had the entire goal.”
“It was very unselfish of him,” Steinkamp countered. “I was very surprised he passed it. I wanted him to shoot that. He did all the work.”
It will take more of that unselfishness and teamwork for the Hilltoppers to finally gain the upper hand against Academy.
If it happens, both wins will have eerily happy parallels — like a spot in the state championship. Los Alamos turned its last victory into a state title. This time, it will secure a spot in the finals against either Farmington or Alamogordo.
“I think we can beat Academy,” Steinkamp said. “It’s going to take a complete effort from everyone. We all need to work as hard as we can. It will be a hard one, but I think we can do it.”
After all, the coyote can’t chase the roadrunner forever, right?