Lionbarger on a scoring frenzy as Lady Pintos play 5 games in 8 days
In the final minute of their fifth game in eight days, when she already had scored three goals, Lila Lionbarger wasn’t done. The Lady Pintos were up 60 over the visiting Bernalillo Lady Spartans with about 30 seconds remaining, when Lionbarger, who already had a hat trick, took one last long-range shot from just beyond the right side of the 18yard box. The shot soared over the Spartan’s goalkeeper and into the back of the net for Lionbarger’s fourth goal—a haul in soccer vernacular—to give the Lady Pintos a 7-0 win.
It was Lionbarger’s second consecutive game with four goals.
“I couldn’t’ve done it without help,” Lionbarger said. “All of my midfielders and wings really crashed, and they gave me many opportunities to take shots.”
The Sept. 15 Bernalillo game was the Lady Pintos’ fifth in the last eight days, and their third win in their last four games. Moriarty beat Monte del Sol on Sept. 13 after falling to Kirtland Central on Sept. 11. The Lady Pintos blanked Belen 6-0 on Sept. 9 after settling for a 22 draw with Robertson on Sept. 7.
“It’s been exhausting,” Lionbarger said.
“Let’s just call it tenacious,” Lady Pintos head coach Val Luker added. “And we literally had no subs.”
Moriarty had a couple of players sidelined due to injuries over the last few games, although Loralyn “Roo” Schmutz—who left the Kirtland Central game with a wrist injury—played against Bernalillo with a padded cast on her arm.
The Lady Pintos attacked early and often against Bernalillo, with Lionbarger scoring her first goal in the 12th minute on a rebound after Brooklyn Olivas had taken a shot that was blocked.
Lindsey Rebarchik, an eighth-grader, scored her first-ever varsity goal after a corner kick in the 20th minute landed in front of her and she poked it past Bernalillo’s goalkeeper.
“It was really surprising, I didn’t expect it,” Rebarchik said.
Lionbarger grabbed a through ball in the 30th, took five or six touches toward the 6-yard area and rifled it in for a 3-0 lead at halftime.
In the 54th, Olivas, who had missed several shot attempts over the last few games, got in on the scoring with a longrange shot from about 20 yards out.
“It was very exciting,” Olivas said. “It took me a long time to finally get one in.”
Lilia Hernandez scored in the 60th, and then Lionbarger nailed her final two goals, including one on a direct free kick in the 72nd that was partially deflected into the goal by Bernalillo’s keeper.
In the Monte del Sol game, Lionbarger scored her first goal off a cross from Olivas in the 31st.
Monte del Sol tied the game at 1-1 early in the second and the score remained knotted until the final seven minutes when Lionbarger exploded for three more goals.
She scored on a 10-yarder in the 73rd, rifled one past Monte’s goalkeeper in the 77th, and then added one more on a breakaway in the 79th.
“It all happened fast, it’s a blur,” Lionbarger said, giggling. “I couldn’t’ve done it without Brooklyn, she had wonderful passes, so kudos to her. I feel so much better about this game.”
Lionbarger was alluding to the loss two days prior to Kirtland Central. Her goal in the first half had given the Lady Pintos a 1-0 lead that they held until the final 10 minutes.
In the 70th Kirtland Central tied the score at 1-1, and then scored again in the 73rd to win 2-1.
“They put it all out there, you know, they played hard,” Luker said about her team’s effort in the loss. “They did everything they could.”