Atrisco, La Cueva triumph
Jags clinch 1-5A crown; Bears close in on 2-5A title
On the upper field, Atrisco Heritage’s boys clinched their district.
On the lower field, it almost felt like La Cueva’s boys did — and the Bears aren’t even in first place.
As the prep soccer regular season enters its final week, two metro districts gained some clarity on Saturday afternoon at the APS Complex.
The Jaguars, behind a hat trick from senior forward Kenny Rivera, won the District 1-5A championship with a 4-1 victory over Volcano Vista.
The Bears blanked Eldorado 2-0. What’s slightly strange is La Cueva remains in second place behind the Eagles, and yet the district is now completely in the Bears’ control.
And that second goal Saturday, from Pablo Sanchez, wide open in front of the net for an easy putaway in the game’s final minutes, was just the security blanket La Cueva (10-5-1, 5-1 in 2-5A) required.
“I told them, in case something happens, make sure you get an extra goal,” La Cueva coach Easy Jimenez said. “So we would win head-to-head. Our goal was to win 2-0 today.”
Here’s what he meant: Eldorado won the first meeting, 1-0, and La Cueva was leading 1-0 throughout most of the second half Saturday. Assuming the Eagles and Bears finished the regular season tied for first place, the tiebreak would have been goal differential in all district games.
That no longer matters. If La Cueva beats Piedra Vista and West Mesa next week, it clinches the regular-season championship based on that second goal Saturday — no matter what Eldorado (9-7-1, 6-1) does in its final game, against West Mesa.
“That was my first-ever loss to Eldorado, in five years,” Jimenez said. “And we took it personally. It’s a good win, but the rivalry ... is back, and that’s what I like.”
Senior forward Yeremi Rodriguez had the first goal for La Cueva, just before halftime.
“It was very satisfying,” Rodriguez said of the victory. “1-0 was all right. 2-nil was amazing.”
■ Atrisco Heritage (15-1-1, 6-0-1) needed one win in its final two matches to secure the 1-5A title. The Jaguars made sure they wouldn’t have this stretch into this week.
The Jags have only one game this week, with second-place Rio Rancho on Saturday. It is likely that Atrisco Heritage, by Nov. 6, the day of the Class 5A state quarterfinals, will have played just one match (Rio Rancho) in an 18-day span between Saturday and then.