Regular season winds down for St. Michael’s defending state 3A champions

They hoisted their second straight District 2-3A trophy. Next stop for the St. Michael’s girls soccer team is a possible second state championship championship.

But the regular season wound down with Friday afternoon‘s second-straight shutout of visiting district foe Robertson, 5-0. That’s it until the state tournament gets underway in early November.

The runner-up Cardinals arrived with a 13-4-2 overall and split their four district matches. But the Lady Horsemen went 4-0 in district for the second year in a  row and have now won their last seven with 53 points scored and only one allowed. The other shutout over Robertson was 2-0.

Overall, head coach Alonso Camarada’s girls have racked up 83 points and given up only a dozen, and are now 13-4. As for the string of shutouts mixed with mercy-rule wins, the number is 10.

Robertson came in led by junior striker Amber Doss’s 32 goals, but in this match she took only two shots, one in each half, as her team fell behind early on goals from sophomore midfielder Jada Lujan in the first two minutes, and another one shortly after when sophomore Tara Schneider found the net with an assist from sophomore forward Elsa Ranney Smith.

Smith added two more assists as the Lady Horsemen’s smart defense kept the Cardinals from crossing midfield. In all, they they had two shots in each half while the home side got off 14, 4 on corner kicks.

Tri-captain Grace Sandoval, a junior midfielder, made it 3-0 at 28:20 of the half on a pass from Smith, then Sandoval tallied again about 5 minutes later, and on an assist from Smith, junior midfielder Farrah Baker finished the scoring as Camarada made sure everyone played.

“I remember last year,” Camarada said, “when we heard our schedule was weak, but it quieted down after we beat (Albuquerque) Sandia Prep and then Socorro. Now we have the same district matches and a tougher overall schedule, so we’re doing just fine.”

In his second year at the helm, Camarada is having a fun time with a fun bunch of talented players.

“Balance,” we have balance,” he said. “Everyone can score, our defense has been great, we’re passing the ball, and it’s nice to coach these girls. They all get along great, everybody cheers for each other, and now we will practice until the state tournament begins.”

While the bulk of the Cardinals’ scoring this season came from Doss, junior Molly Flore had the most assists, 21, and also tallied 17 goals, but she, too, was defended well and didn’t get away a single shot.

Said Robertson head coach Jeff Houdek: “We had been doing okay, but not against them. They’re good, very good, and that’s two-straight years they kept us from scoring. Now let’s see how we do in the playoffs.”

Another neat job in the goal for senior Milena Keene, who had to later head for the St. Michael’s football game at Robertson as the Horsemen goalie.

“Hey, it’s good,” she said,” I enjoy being the soccer keeper and the football extra-point kicker and punter. But now I have to hustle for the ride down I-25.”

Keene is also tri-captain of the soccer team, as is junior defender Logan Hunt, and Grace Sandoval.

Lauren Pecos, a St. Michael’s junior, is recovering from ACL knee surgery that has sidelined her for the the last two seasons, but she said she will be ready to play basketball where she has been the starting point guard since 8th-grade.