Horsemen narrowly lose to Bosque
St. Michael’s sputtering offense a growing source of frustration
The Albuquerque Bosque School Bobcats played too well for too long Tuesday afternoon for the outcome to have a hollow ring to it — another frustrating onegoal loss.
Bosque School dominated possession and opportunities in its District 2-1A/3A boys soccer match against St. Michael’s at Klaus Weber Field, but found itself in overtime against the district-leading Horsemen. Finally, possession and opportunity coexisted for a beautiful moment for freshman Paolo Vela.
He collected Issac Wayne’s pass at the top of the penalty box, and placed his shot just as he envisioned it — into the upper right of the goal just past the outstretched gloves of St. Michael’s goalkeeper Isaiah Vigil for a 2-1 win. Five out of the Bobcats’ seven 2-1A/3A matches have been decided by one goal, but they lost three of four before beating the Horsemen. In the process, St. Michael’s (11-6-1 overall, 6-2 in 2-1A/3A) relinquished its half-match lead over Las Vegas Robertson (12-3, 6-1) for the top spot in the district. “This win was more important than for our record,” Vela said. “It was important for our team. We haven’t been putting away opportunities to win games that matter. So this was very important.”
If anything, the break for overtime gave the Bobcats (10-7, 4-3) a chance to catch their breath and adjust. St. Michael’s, which floundered through the first 60 minutes of the match, started to control possession and began to attack the Bosque goal throughout the last part of regulation.
It took seven minutes into overtime for the Bobcats to finally break though the St. Michael’s defense. Senior Issac Wayne raced down the left sideline and beat the Horsemen back line before swooping into the box. Wayne passed to the top of the box, but it appeared the ball was meant for striker Cristian Fontana who was a few yards to the right of Wayne. Instead, the ball found a wide-open Vela and he struck it true past Vigil.
“I visualized that [play] as many times as I can,” Vela said. “Just put it in my head, put it in the net and hitting a perfect goal.”
Wesley Graham, Berkeley Reynolds and Justice Johnson each had shots from inside the penalty box, but the Bobcats defense rose up at key moments. Defensive midfielder Evan Forte deflected Graham’s and Reynolds’ shot, while goalkeeper Isaiah Lewis blocked Johnson’s try from the extreme right side of the box.
The concern over the hiccuping St. Michael’s offense is growing into frustration for Mike Feldewert, the Horsemen head coach. This marked the fifth time in the last six matches St. Michael’s scored two goals or fewer.
“I think we got to change things around a little bit,” Feldewert said. “We’re just not getting the offense we need to win. It’s tough going through the latter part of the season scoring just one goal.”
In this instance, the Horsemen were happy to be playing into overtime. Bosque School dominated play, as it put together four or five passes and continually broke through the St. Michael’s defense. That was readily apparent in opening minute, as Wayne found midfielder Carsten Torgeson on a cross in front of the goal. Only Vigil’s presence between Torgeson and the goal prevented an early 1-0 lead.
Vigil, though, couldn’t save the Horsemen in the 14th minute as Vela’s direct kick from 40 yards floated into the box and Fontana deflected it over the onrushing Vigil and it bounced into the goal open the scoring. it took St. Michael’s eight minutes to respond as Johnson passed to Wesley Graham near the top of the box, and he lofted a 20-yard shot into the upper left of the goal to even the score.
After that, though, the Bobcats continually pressed the issue. They thought they had a goal in the 31st minute when Torgeson’s corner kick found Forte open in front of an open net and he knocked it in, but the side judge called a foul on Vigil in the box.
Six minutes into the second half, Forte lofted a direct kick just outside the box over the Horsemen defense and Fontana redirected it to the upper goal, but Fontana was off sides.
“You score four goals and only two counted,” said Bosque head coach Jorge Vela, who is also Paola’s dad. “It was nice, though. We’re such a young team. our top forward [Fontana] is a freshman and he does an amazing job. But when he hears the footsteps of the bigger guys, there’s a little bit of pressure. As he grows, he’ll get better.”
The Horsemen, though, are in a win-now mode. Feldewert said he felt his team needed to win two of their last three matches — all on the road — and the loss to the Bobcats doesn’t change that.
“Now, we just need to win the last two, right?” Feldewert said.
The schedule, though, leaves the fate of the Horsemen in their hands. They play the Cardinals in Las Vegas, N.M., on Saturday, then finish the season on Oct. 23 at Albuquerque Sandia Prep. And the Bobcats, who sit in fourth place in 2-1A/3A, can’t be discounted yet.
“It just shows how competitive our district is,” Feldewert said. “Bosque, Sandia Prep, Robertson, we’re all pretty even. You look at the scores and we’re not blowing each other out. They’re all good, tight ball games and that’s what you want.”
Bosque, though, will take the win. It worked too hard not to earn it.