Prep’s Trevisani gets birthday gift

Blue Griffins roll over Santa Fe Indian School, reaching quarterfinals

Blowing out the candles finally felt good again for Blake Trevisani.

A senior on the Santa Fe Prep girls soccer team, she celebrated her 18th birthday with a win in the opening round of the state tournament Saturday afternoon. She scored twice and added a pair of assists in helping the fifth-seeded Blue Griffins roll 10-0 past Santa Fe Indian School in the first round of the Class 1A-3A Tournament.

Prep (10-4-1) advances to the quarterfinals Wednesday in Bernalillo. The Griffins will face No. 4 seed Hatch Valley (17-2-1) in one of four games all scheduled for 9:30 a.m.

In 2016, Trevisani’s 16th birthday came with a one-goal loss to St. Michael’s at the state tournament.

Her 17th fell on the same day the undefeated and top-seeded Griffins lost in double overtime to Socorro.

It took Prep all of 39 seconds to get the game-winner against the Lady Braves (2-18-1). It came on a goal by Lynn Robey to give the Griffins a 1-0 lead it would pad six more times in the first half and three more in the second to end the match via the mercy rule midway through the second half.

“Honestly, yeah, I was thinking about it a little bit,” Trevisani said of her birthday losing streak. “Last year I was nervous we were going to lose, and we did, and I think that might’ve been why. I probably didn’t play as well as I could have.”

Trevisani’s family handed out cupcakes after Saturday’s game, played under sunny skies but in cold and windy conditions at Sun Mountain Field. Still munching on her snack as she spoke about the game, Robey said one of the good things about this season’s playoff run is what the Griffins show behind the scenes.

“Everyone on this team gets along so well and we have a really good thing going here,” she said. “Win or lose next week, we’re still going to be close and we’re still going to stop one another in the hallways and talk and be friends. That’s how close this team is. It’s fun and we’re all relaxed.”

Robey scored four times and assisted on a goal by Hayden Colfax late in the first half.

Colfax had four goals of her own, including the final two.

The last of them came off an assist from Trevisani with more than 20 minutes left in the contest.

Just three wins away from a state title they felt they had a solid shot at last year, the Griffins are heading into the quarterfinals with a different mindset.

“I think there was some pressure, yeah, going into the tournament without a loss,” Trevisani said.

“Maybe it’s different this time, but this is a new team with a group of us who’ve been playing together for a while now. None of us wants this to end, and this time it feels like the pressure isn’t what it was.”

Of course, none of it really matters when your teammates start singing “Happy Birthday” and your mom is passing around a box of cupcakes while your dad records it all on his smartphone.

“I can’t imagine us losing again in the playoffs on her birthday,” Robey said. “How awful would that have been? I don’t even want to think about it.”