Elks top St. Mike’s boys soccer
The St. Michael’s boys soccer team did everything it could to score against the Pojoaque Valley Elks on Saturday on the final round-robin match of the Sangre de Cristo Classic at Taos’ Eco Park.
Despite nine corner kicks and 12 shots on goal, Pojoaque managed a 2-1 win as the Horsemen finished the tournament 2-1.
While the finish could have been better, St. Michael’s head coach Mike Feldewert said it was good weekend overall for the Horsemen. “It was just one of those [matches] you just have,” Feldewert said. “You just shake your head. [The Elks] played a tough, hard game and they deserved to win.”
Pojoaque (1-3) scored on a penalty kick 10 minutes into the match, and added another score later in the half for a 2-0 lead. St. Michael’s (3-2) cut the lead when Santiago Lucero scored off a corner kick before the half ended. After that, though, frustration mounted. Feldewert said three shots hit off the goal and several others sailed over the post. “You gotta take it for what it is,” Feldewert said. “We let them stay in the game, and we came out really flat. That first 20 minutes put ourselves in a deep hole.”
It didn’t help that senior Justice Johnson did not play, nursing an injury.
His absence wasn’t missed much in the morning match against Miyamura, which St. Michael’s won 3-0. Wesley Sage Graham had his second two-goal performance of the tournament, while Berkeley Reynolds had a goal and an assist. The Horsemen led 1-0 at the half before adding two more to finish the match. After playing five matches in six days, St. Michael’s gets six days off before taking the pitch against Monte del Sol on Friday.
VOLLEYBALL MONTE DEL SOL 3, TO’HAJIILEE 1 SANTA FE WALDORF 3, MONTE DEL SOL 0
The young, inexperienced Lady Dragons learned quickly on the second day of Santa Fe Waldorf’s Wolf Tournament in Christian Life Academy. After getting swept by eventual tournament champion Waldorf 25-13, 25-19, 25-10 in the morning semifinals, Monte del Sol (1-1) rebounded with a 9-25, 26-24, 25-21, 25-14 win over the Lady Warriors for third place.
The Lady Dragons have only junior Emi Fukuda returning from last year, and the rest of the team is underclassmen and eighth-graders. Chela Butler, Monte del Sol’s head coach, said she saw significant improvement throughout the tournament. The Lady Dragons went 0-6 in pool play, but played better against a team that reached the 1A semifinals last year and then beat To’hajilee, which swept them on Friday.
“We saw moments [on Friday] of good play, but it was hard to sustain it,” Butler said. “Against Waldolf, we had one game [Game 2] where we had really nice, sustained consistency.”
Fukuda had five kills and an ace against the Lady Warriors.
CROSS-COUNTRY UNM INVITATIONAL
Los Alamos showed it is ready to challenge in Class 4A this season.
The girls team was only 55-60 behind reigning state champion Albuquerque Academy and the boys squad finished third behind Academy and El Paso (Texas) Americas at the UNM North Golf Course.
A trio of Lady Hilltoppers finished in the top 10, led by freshman Norissa Valdez’s third place in 19 minutes, 31.3 seconds. Joining her were Emma Montoya (sixth) and Lidia Appell (ninth) as the Lady Hilltoppers had all seven runners finish in the first 34 spots. Meanwhile, the boys had Steven Strevell take second behind Kirtland Central’s Kashon Harrison.
Not to be overlooked were the Lady Horsemen of St. Michael’s, who produced a seventhplace finish despite bringing just five runners. It was the best performance among all 3A teams. Freshman Logan Hunt led the way with an 18th-place finish, and the first four runners for St. Michael’s finished within 38 seconds of each other. Taos girls, who moved up to 4A, were ninth.
On the boys side, Pecos finished ninth, and Pojoaque Valley was 11th, while Las Vegas Robertson girls were 11th and Pecos came in at 13th place.
GIRLS SOCCER ST. MICHAEL’S 2, VALENCIA 0
The Lady Horsemen remained undefeated Friday as Claire Lee scored both of their goals to lead the way past the Lady Jaguars in Los Lunas. After a 1-all tie to Santa Fe High to start the season Aug. 22, St. Michael’s (3-0-1) has scored 23 goals since then. Despite the strong start, first-year head coach Anthony Cassaro is still feeling out his squad.
“We’re getting better,” Cassaro said. “I don’t think we’ve been tested yet against a competitive team. If anything, we’re learning to play in a new system. We just haven’t played a good team yet.”