NM HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS 3A SOCCER CHAMPIONSHIP

St. Michael’s deserved better.

Weather-wise, Thursday’s late afternoontussle for the state 3A girls soccer championship at the University of New Meixco’s Soccer Complex was ideal. Temperatures began at around 69 when the 5:30 start got underway, and when it was over, it was down to 52 and still no wind or cloudy skies.

Otherwise, it turned into a 1-0 win for top-seeded Albuquerque Sandia Prep on a goal scored at the 9-minute mark of the first half. That was it, there were other threats, but nothing else made it into the goal.

It was a very hard-charging physical match with some calls that the referee made and were so in the favor of the home team in black, which lost 5-0 in last year’s state semifinals, that the impressive turnout of 3rd-seeded St. Michael’s fans let him know it, hear it.

It was an all-match thing, especially at the outset when, just like that, there were quick back-to-back calls around midfield. They looked the same with a player from each team bumping one another, and the calls were the same, fouls on the Lady Horsemen in their road whites.

Except that both times, there were flops, something the National Basketball Association has spoken out against. Here came the bumps and backward flips by the Sundevils that accounted for some of the fouls against St. MIchael’s.

Not long after came a foul and yellow card against the Lady Horsemen. There was another one not long after, and none of Sandia Prep at all. None of these fouls were obvious, just close enough for the referee to let the teams play on. Each time St. Michael’s had a play on, there was enough physical play that brought the referee’s whistle.

In all, 14 fouls were called, 11 against the Lady Horsemen, and it got so comical at times that the St. Michael’s crowd let its voices heard while sitting alongside the Sundevils fans.

There were fouls that weren’t called, some the sideline officials could have made. There was a shot stopped at the goal by St. Michael’s senior goaltender Malena Keene in the second half where a Sandia Prep player pushed her after she was already down. There was one tumble near the sideline when a player from each team made hard contact and the referee just watched and shook his head for some reason.

That was it. It was enough to make noise from the stands and were made all game. The goal came when there was a loose ball in front of the Sundevils’ goal with 3-4 St. Michael’s girls trying to get to it and kick it away and Keene was just trying to stop a shot from the lone Sandia Prep player, junior Maddy

Hashagen, who happened to slip in and boot the ball into the right corner of the goal.

The Lady Horsemen’s best chance came at the 37th minute of the second half when sophomore Cameren Gantt boomed a 25-yard shot that hit the high post and bounded away. There were some other tries from closer, but the Sundevils were able to get to them.

Their goalie made four saves, Keene six, with three of them excellent on tough shots, one on a corner shot and two from in front of her. St. Michael’s took a dozen shots, Sandia Prep one less.

Second-year Lady Horsemen head coach Alfonso Camarena, who had just another splendid season, will lose seniors Keene, defender/midfielder Clare Patten and midfielder Maudalena Garcia. But he has enough talent returning to reach a sixth-straight state final.

In the semifinals played Tuesday at 2nd-seeded Socorro, it was a 4-2 triumph for St. Michael’s, while the Sundevils blanked Hatch Valley, 5-0. In last year’s final, the top-seeded Lady Horsemen turned back the Warriors, 4-1, and enjoyed a 8-0 campaign.

Kudos to you coach, another good job. This team finished at 15-5, Sandia Prep at 18-3.