No. 1 seeded St. Michael’s girls hope to end an undefeated season

Socorro is a young squad led by juniors, 10 of them, and with junior Elise Madrill its leading scorer as the 3rd-seeded Warriors meet up with top-seeded St. Michael’s in Thursday’s state 1A/3A girls soccer championship played at the University of New Mexico Soccer Complex.

While the Lady Horsemen arrive with a 7-0-1 overall record and have allowed only one goal, Socorro comes in at 7-3-1 after getting past 2nd-seeded Albuquerque Bosque School, 2-1, Tuesday, and with St. Michael’s shutting out visiting, 4th-seeded Albuquerque Sandia Prep, 4-0.

The scheduled start is noon as the Lady Horsemen go for their first state title since 2009 while Socorro has yet to win one.

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And while St. Michael’s, under first-year head coach Alfonso Camarena, has a balanced attack that has scored 42 times and with a defense that has allowed only one goal, that coming in the 2-1 season-opener at Sandia Prep. Thus, it has pitched shutouts its last eight starts.

The Warriors have tallied 28 times and have yielded 14, with Madrid paving the way the team-high 14 goals in nine matches. She also has three assists, two less then junior Bryanda Leon, who has turned in four goals. Another junior, Lola Apodoca, has scored five, and sophomore Alana Romero has assisted on three. Two goals each have come from freshman Faith Lucero and junior Kilee Mounyo.

That’s the wrap on Socorro, the one senior is Michelle Prieto, the rest of the roster lists 10 juniors, three sophomores, three freshmen, and three 8th-graders.

The St. Michael’s offense has scorers from top to bottom. It has three seniors and Rachel Morgan, Olivia Farrah, Frances Schneider and Cassie Gravel are in that group. Sophomores who are scorers are Farrah Baker, Gabriele Farrah, and Grace Sandoval. Then there’s the freshmen led by Elsa Rammey Smith, who had a goal and a assist against the Sundevils. The other scorers were Sandoval off an assist from Morgan, Baker, and junior Claire Patten.

The stopper has been junior Milena Keene in her third season as the goaltender. She has played some in the field, but when in goal, only one shot has gotten past here, and she has benefited from her defense led by Morgan, Olivia Farrah, Cameren Gantt, and a host of others who chase down loose balls, outrace opponents, and set the tone. Teamwork is the key to this squad and Camarena emphasizes this.

After the opener at Sandia Prep, the Lady Horsemen have blanked Gallup Rehoboth, 9-0, had a scoreless tie at 4A Los Alamos, shut down Monte del Sol, 10-0, did the same to East Mountain, 10-0, topped Rehoboth, 2-0, East Mountain, 5-0, and then came the impressive win over nine-time state champion Sandia Prep on a very windy afternoon at the Christian Brothers Athletic Complex. In winning District 2, they handily wrapped up four triumphs.

Socorro has been an overtime team, edging visiting Los Alamos in one, 5-4, losing 3-2 at Bosque School, tying visiting Sandia Prep, 1-0 in a pair of OTs, and downing the Sundevils on the road, 1-0.

The Warriors, champions of District 1, came up with four shutouts.

The Rosters:

ST. MICHAEL’S —

 (1)   Goalkeeper Milena Keene

 (3)   Cameren Gantt

 (4)   Tara Schneider

 (5).  Frances Schneider

 (6)   Elsa Rammey Smith

 (8)   Gabrielle Farrah

(10)  Olivia Farrah

(13)  Rachel Morgan

(14)  Jada Lujan

(15)  Laura Pecos

(16)  Jacqueline Gorman

(18)  Farrah Baker

(20)  Grace Sandoval

(21)  Cassie Gravel

(22)  Elana Lovato
(24)  Claire Patten

(30)  Logan Hunt

SOCORRO —

 (1)  Mia Tenorio

 (4)  Faith Lucero

 (9)  Michelle Prieto

(10) Thalia Acosta

(11)  Lola Apodaca
(12)  Elise Madrill

(15)  Aura Kendall
(17)  Karen Leon

(18)  Bryanda Leon

(19)  Alex Olguin

(20)  Alana Romero

(21)  Abrianna Romero

(22)  Katia Prieto

(23)  Kilee Mounyo
(24)  Shayden Castillo

(25)  Jasmine Carothers

(28)  Aryanni Ochoa
(30)  Marae Angel

(31)  Jada Castillo

(88)  Goalkeeper Chailynn Amaro

In a boys 1A/3A semifinals played at Albuquerque Sandia Prep Tuesday, the top-seeded Sundevils blanked Santa Fe Prep, 2-0, to advance to the Thursday championship match versus 3rd-seeded Albuquerque Bosque School, which turned back New Mexico Military Institute, 2-1. The Griffins finished at 5-4 and the final will be played at the University of New Mexico Soccer Complex.