Los Alamos edges Sartans in shootout
SANTA ANA PUEBLO — Dating to 1998 when the girls were changed from one classification to two, Albuquerque Academy and/or St. Pius have appeared in every soccer championship match. They have met eight times in the finale over that span and between them, have won every title except for two, both of which went to Los Alamos.
This season, one of those teams is already missing as the Hilltoppers eliminated the Sartans in overtime to set up a meeting with Aztec in today’s 10 a.m. semifinals.
The Chargers marched right along, and will face Farmington in the other semi at the complex on the Santa Ana Pueblo. No. 6 LOS ALAMOS 3, No. 3 ST. PIUS
2 (2 OT): Two minutes before the second overtime period was scheduled to end to send this back-and-forth match to a penalty-kick shootout, the Hilltoppers (16-5-1) delivered the knockout blow to the Sartans (11-5-1).
Midfielder Katie Hopkins played tough through the center, winning two tackles and serving a dangerous ball near the top of the penalty area.
It turned into a scrum for the ball that included Sartans goalkeeper Kassandra Ascevez. The ball popped free to Hilltopper Alyssa Parker, who lofted it toward the vacated goal. Ascevez was able to retreat quickly enough to leap and knock the ball away, but Alix Hailey tracked it down near the end line, turned to the inside and fired, knocking it home.
“The worst part of coaching is you can’t win games but you can lose games,” St. Pius coach David Sullivan said. “The way my mind plays that scenario, when the ball went over the top, I yelled for her to go. I put her in a situation where she was not very likely for her to be successful. I told my team, ‘I made a mistake and you guys paid for it.’ ”
In reality, it was a hustle play that could have gone either way.
“As soon as the goalie got it and I saw the ball, I had to remain calm but when all the defense started coming and all my team started coming, I knew I had to make a move right away,” Hailey said. “I didn’t think I had an angle at first but when I turned the ball and got the angle on, I saw that there was a little opening right there and I just hit it in.”
It was a game that had all the intensity of a championship match with Miranda Hart scoring minutes into the game for St. Pius, only to have Alissia Haagenstad tie for the ’Toppers. Hart struck again before halftime, but Hailey tied it again midway through the second half. No. 1 ABQ. ACADEMY 4, No. 8 ROSWELL 0: After a scoreless first half, the Chargers (17-4) shook off their doldrums to polish off the Coyotes (13-9).
Eliza Mariner scored twice early in the second half and Roswell never really threatened offensively.
“We kind of woke up a little bit in the second half, and we kept really strong possession,” said Chargers coach Peter Glidden. “I know Roswell’s legs got a little bit tired in the second half. Those through balls or those diagonal balls that weren’t connecting started to connect. And we were able to finish well and score a couple of goals and close it out.”
No. 2 AZTEC 1, No. 7 LOS LUNAS 0: The first time these teams met, Aztec (18-2) came away with a 5-0 victory so the players thought this time was going to be a breeze, said Sierra Villanueva, whose first-half goal proved to be the difference over Los Lunas (14-7-1).
“It was more tough than we imagined,” said Villanueva, who got her second goal of the season. “We just thought it was going to be an easy one. That’s how we came into it. But we realized that attitude plays and it’s mind over matter. They came out fierce and we just ended having to play fierce with them.”
No. 4 FARMINGTON 6, No. 12 VALENCIA 0: The Scorpions (17-4) overcame a case of the jitters to pull away in the second half over the Jaguars (10-10-2).
“The nerves were definitely there,” said Farmington coach Brynn Chavez Cochran. “That was kind of the big thing and any time the nerves are there you kind of overcompensate in certain areas.”