Top-seeded Academy has to rally; all four favorites prevail

Chargers fight off early deficit; other semifinalists get shutouts

SANTA ANA PUEBLO — It wasn’t a day for the underdogs in the boys Class 4A soccer quarterfinals. .

All four higher seeds advanced on a cold, rainy Wednesday at the soccer complex, and top-seeded Albuquerque Academy was the only team to surrender a goal in a 3-1 victory over No. 8 Lovington. The Chargers will move on to face No. 4 Los Lunas Thursday at 10 a.m. on Field 7. The Tigers defeated fifth-seeded Chaparral 3-0 in their quarterfinal pairing.

In Thursday’s other semifinal — which is scheduled for 10 a.m. on Field 8 — No. 2 Los Alamos and No. 3 St. Pius are set for a rematch of a Sept. 28 matchup, which the Hilltoppers won 2-1 in double overtime on the Sartans home field. Los Alamos vanquished Hope Christian 4-0, and St. Pius beat Taos 3-0 to advance in the bracket.

Wednesday’s prevailing theme was the rain, which had various effects on all the teams in the bracket. NO. 1 ALBUQUERQUE ACADEMY 3,

LOVINGTON 1: It was hardly the ideal start for the Chargers, as the Wildcats were able to capitalize on an errant pass and take a surprising 1-0 first-half lead.

“We knew that they were a counterattack type team. They did just that,” said Academy coach Laney Kolek. “They collected the ball through the midfield, strung a couple passes together and put one in the back of the net.”

Academy (18-3) rallied to tie the game heading into halftime, when Michael Weber converted on a breakaway and beat the Lovington goalie.

According to Kolek, the Chargers weren’t fazed by the early deficit. “This is a pretty poised team,” she said.

Academy took control in the second half behind goals from Neven Zapatka and Luke Jenkusky. Kolek praised her team for being able to persevere through the rain that fell throughout the contest.

“That definitely leveled a bit of the playing field,” she said. “It really weighted the

ball down and made it tough to connect passes. I think what went well for us is we we were persistent.”

NO. 3 ST. PIUS 3, NO. 6 TAOS 0: Heber Rios put the Sartans on the board early, and St. Pius pulled away from the Tigers in the second half.

Rios set the tone, scoring on a through ball in the game’s opening minutes.

“In games like this, scoring early like that is a big deal,” St. Pius coach A.J. Herrera said. “Credit to my guys for coming out ready to play. If we can start that way every game, that’d be great.”

Taos (15-4-1) hung around for the rest of the first half, but the Tigers struggled to generate shots on the St. Pius (12-5-2) goal throughout the game.

Ethan Johnson put the Sartans ahead 2-0 at about the 60th minute, and Marcus Garcia converted a penalty kick to ice the victory some five minutes later. NO. 4 LOS LUNAS 3, NO. 5 CHAPARRAL 0: It took the Tigers (17-3-1) about 40 minutes to find their footing in the rainy conditions, as they used a second-half barrage to put away the Lobos (14-7-1).

Jordan Arballo struck first for the Tigers, as they broke open a scoreless game with a trio of goals after halftime.

“We just got more comfortable with the surface. It was a sleek surface. The ball was skipping a lot,” Los Lunas coach Eraclio Chavez said. “It was almost like playing on turf. Not that they’re not dealing with the same elements, but we just adapted a little bit better to them.” NO. 2 LOS ALAMOS 4, NO. 7 HOPE CHRISTIAN 0: The Hilltoppers scored a pair of goals within three minutes of the second half to take a 3-0 lead and remove any suspense from their quarterfinal matchup with the Huskies.

Dakota Duran headed in a rebound less than 30 seconds into the second half to put Los Alamos up 2-0, and Westley Parker tacked on a goal approximately two minutes later for a 3-0 advantage. Parker scored again at the 58th minute to provide the final margin.

“We really played well that second half,” Los Alamos coach Ron Blue said. “We created chances (in the first half). We just weren’t finishing at that time.”