St. Mike’s defense delivers
Lady Horsemen win 6-1 over Santa Fe Prep to reach semis
Friday afternoon was an homage to hard work and perseverance for the St. Michael’s Lady Horsemen.
A season of injuries, playing with a shortened roster and the “will she/won’t she?” status of senior midfielder Tara Schneider didn’t break them.
If anything, it made them into a cohesive unit that seems impervious to obstacles in their way. This patchwork group of Lady Horsemen showed what it was capable of when it finally hit its stride.
A stellar defense that allow just five shots on goal and corralled Santa Fe Prep striker Marley Belyeu mixed perfectly with the offensive theatrics of Jada Lujan and Sophia Miera, who combined for five goals and four assists. Put it together, and it spelled a dominating 6-1 win Friday in the Class 1A/3A quarterfinals at Christian Brothers Athletic Complex.
The win ensures the Lady Horsemen a spot in the Tuesday state semifinals, where they will play the winner of Saturday’s No. 8 Hatch Valley/No. 1 Albuquerque Sandia Prep match.
But Friday’s performance was a sign of St. Michael’s (11-6-2) peaking at the right time, especially mentally.
“Nothing is free,” Lady Horsemen head coach Alfonso Camarena said. “If you want something, you need to work for it.”
Aside from a goal by Olive Clay in the seventh minute of the match,
St. Michael’s outworked its District 2-1A/3A rival. And it showed specially in the midfield and on defense.
In a 3-2 dogfight between the two teams Oct. 25 won by the Lady Horsemen, Prep forward Marley Belyeu made life miserable for the St. Michael’s back line with unabated attacks on the goal.
Those were absent in the rematch. It was one part persistence and one part patience that was the difference. Defender Bella Griego supplied the persistence, as she doggedly followed Belyeu wherever she went. Last week, St. Michael’s didn’t man-mark her, opting for the defender nearest Belyeu to do that.
“It’s just cutting off those runs,” Griego said. “She is a great player. She plays fast. You just have to watch her and be there for those plays.”
The patience came from the rest of the back line, which learned from its wayward habit of chasing the ball like
a puppy. Instead, the defenders waited for Belyeu and the Prep midfielders to make their move first before adjusting.
Senior Mariella Rigales, meanwhile, adjusted her approach and played more like a safety, sitting behind the back line as a last line of defense in case a Blue Griffin (11-9-1) roamed free.
“Last week, I would step out more, but my coach had me play back this time,” Rigales said. “Usually I help out more with the wings, but this time, I played the center and whoever got past us, I was there.”
Those opportunities were few and far between, mainly because the Lady Horsemen controlled possession for much of the match.
It appeared the teams would pick up where it left the two district matches, as the teams combined for three goals in the first 11 minutes. Combined with the other two district tilts, they combined for 15 goals by that point.
It started with an unlikely score from midfielder Iliana Sandoval, who took a short pass from Lujan at the top of the penalty box and sailed a shot Prep goalkeeper Maya Crawford tried to tip over the goal, but it went jsut under for a 1-0 St. Michael’s lead.
Prep seemed ready to continue to attack the Lady Horsemen back line when Clay dribbled 40 yards downfield then launched a shot into the upper left of the goal to tie the score at 1 in the seventh minute.
Undeterred, St. Michael’s answered within minutes on Lujan’s sliding shot from the left flank and got underneath Crawford’s outstretched hands and into the lower left of the net for what ended up being the deciding goal.
But the scoring wasn’t over — at least for St. Michael’s. The next 28 minutes were relatively uneventful before Miera awoke. She finally got on the scoreboard when she fired a 25-yard missile to the upper right in stoppage time for a 3-1 margin.
Her second goal came on a beautiful pass over the top of the Prep defense from Sandoval and Miera raced the final 20 yards and beat Crawford with a shot to the right side of the goal for a three-goal margin.
Camarena said Sandoval’s play throughout the season has been invaluable because she always seems to be at the right place at the right time.
“She is just always there around the ball,” Camarena said. “If it’s on offense or defense, Iliana is just there to make the play.”
And making plays is what November and the state tournament is all about.