Nov. 4—Comfortable wins were largely the theme of Friday’s quarterfinals in the high school state soccer tournaments.
Nearly all the metro-area teams in action on Friday won by multiple goals Class 5A, 4A and 1A-3A.
La Cueva’s second-seeded girls were involved in one of the day’s few quarterfinal thrillers, as senior Tessa Updegraff’s goal early in the first overtime sent the Bears (18-2-1) to the semifinals with a 2-1 victory over No. 7 Albuquerque High on Friday night at the APS Complex.
“I was definitely really excited, but also relieved that we scored that goal so early in the overtime. Overtime is so stressful and anything can happen,” Updegraff said. Her shot barely crossed the line in the 92nd minute.
AHS (15-6-1), which ousted Los Lunas in two OTs in the first round on Tuesday, had the better of things through a good portion of the first half and had the early lead. It wasn’t until Makayla Chavez’s goal in the 53rd minute that La Cueva pulled even and steadied the team, Updegraff said. Bears coach Amber Ashcraft agreed.
“Albuquerque High played an amazing game against us,” Ashcraft said. “It’s hard sometimes when you have the bye. It’s a nice opportunity to rest your players, but it’s also scary because you haven’t played in a week.”
In Rio Rancho, No. 1 seed Cleveland defeated No. 8 Sandia 3-0 on Friday night. The Storm (20-1) advance to Wednesday’s semifinals, where it will have a rematch of last year’s 5A championship game with No. 4 seed Eldorado.
Junior forward Arissa C’de Baca had a pair of goals for Cleveland, including one in the fifth minute and the clincher in the 75th minute. In between, Rylie Pengelly scored on a penalty kick right before halftime.
At Eldorado, the fourth-seeded Eagles (16-4) advanced, 3-0, over visiting No. 5 seed Santa Fe. The Eagles inched closer to being able to successfully defend their 2022 title, which they won on Cleveland’s field.
Senior captain Sofia Gurule had two of Eldorado’s three goals, the first coming just before halftime. Emma Gurule, Sofia’s sister and a sophomore, had the other goal for the Eagles, off a corner kick.
The fourth 5A girls quarterfinal is Saturday, with Volcano Vista visiting unbeaten Las Cruces.
Also at the APS Complex on Friday night, La Cueva’s boys, seeded No. 2, won 4-0 over No. 10 Albuquerque High. Winston Starr’s goal in the third minute sent the Bears (19-2) on their way. Logan Davis and Jonah Grega had official tallies for the Bears, who also benefited from an AHS own goal.
La Cueva has won 15 games by shutout this season, including six in a row.
No. 3 seed Atrisco Heritage will face La Cueva on Wednesday at 6 p.m. at the APS Complex. Senior midfielder Marco Lara had a pair of goals for the Jaguars (16-4) who held on to defeat No. 6 Organ Mountain 3-2. Elehi Ortega had the third goal for Atrisco Heritage, his 22nd, most by any boy in an individual season since the school opened.
Late Friday, No. 4 Centennial’s boys edged No. 5 Volcano Vista 2-1 at the Field of Dreams.
Class 4A’s top-seeded Hope Christian’s girls had an easy go of it Friday, routing eighth-seeded Goddard 10-0 in the quarters and outshooting the Rockets 21-3.
Both Ava Martinez and Savanah Sanchez recorded hat tricks for the Huskies (18-2-1), who will be home for a semifinal game on Wednesday against Aztec or Los Alamos.
Martinez also added two assists. Zylee Dominguez scored a goal and chipped in with three assists. Hailey Sanchez, Savanah’s cousin, scored two goals for Hope Christian.
No. 2 Albuquerque Academy and No. 3 St. Pius also shut out opponents in the quarterfinals. The Chargers (16-4-1) rolled 6-0 over No. 7 Moriarty, while the Sartans (15-6) won 4-0 over No. 6 Santa Teresa.
For Academy, Piper Wiese and Adeline Spratley each had a pair of goals for the Chargers, who advance into Wednesday’s home semifinals against St. Pius. Reily Cates and Isabella Barnes also had goals for Academy.
At St. Pius, Taylor Wilson’s goal in the 10th minute got it going for the Sartans with a 15-yard shot into the corner. Izabella Cotinola (29th), Marizia Valdez (34th) and Carina Suarez (51st) also had goals for the Sartans.
The Hope boys defeated No. 8 seed Goddard 3-1 in the second of the two quarterfinal games at Hope on Friday afternoon.
The first goal of the game was one of the strangest scored anywhere on Friday. Sophomore Kaden McMurry’s corner kick in the second minute hopped and hugged along the ground and went directly into the net for an early lead.
“It’s not really something you exactly plan for,” McMurry said. “But I kind of saw what was happening, and a lot of the right things happened.”
The early goal was the momentum setter for Hope.
“That completely elevated us,” McMurry said.
Justus Mason’s blast from near the top of the 18 box made it 2-0 in the 56th minute for the Huskies. Noah Kelshaw’s header from close range, coming off a corner by the Huskies, upped the edge to 3-0. The Hope-Goddard matchup was the only 4A quarterfinal on Friday; No. 1 St. Pius faces defending state champion Lovington, and Highland visits Academy, both on Saturday.
At Bosque School, the Bobcats, seeded No. 2 behind Sandia Prep in the girls Class 1A-3A bracket, blanked No. 7 West Las Vegas 4-0 in the quarterfinals.
Layla Chimenti, Brooklyn Bird and Ainsley Capps each had a goal, and Rose Candelaria had a goal and assist for Bosque (16-4-1).
The Bobcats will be at home in the semifinals on Tuesday afternoon.
Sandia Prep’s boys and girls, both seeded No. 1 in 1A-3A, are in quarterfinal action Saturday. Oak Grove Classical Academy’s boys were seeded No. 6 in 1A-3A, but were routed 9-2 on Friday by third-seeded Robertson.
Source: https://sports.yahoo.com/state-soccer-quarterfinals-la-cueva-140100804.html
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