Santa Fe High drops two in District 5-5A soccer

It was a double dip for Santa High soccer Saturday in home and away District 5-5A marches against Albuquerque High.

At the Demonettes’ court, it resulted in a tight 2-1 pair of overtime loss. At the Bulldogs, the Demons were shut out 4-0, and both matches affected the district standings.

In the girls match, a turnover at midfield during stoppage time in the second overtime was costly for Santa Fe High as the Bulldogs’ senior striker Abila Tapia booted a shot in the lower left past senior goaltender Molly Wissman for the golden gold that put Albuquerque High at 10-4-1overall and a district-leading 5-0-1. It dropped the Demonettes to 9-5-2 overall and 4-1-1 in district. After Tapia came away with the steal, she let go with a counter attack that, two passes later, brought the winning goal.

It capped a back-and-forth match in which the home team started poorly but then rallied for a 1-1 deadlock that brought the overtime. It was scoreless when Tapia crossed the ball to Sophia Hernandez from the left flank in the 55th minute to tally from the center of the penalty box into the lower right side of the goal.

But it didn’t take Santa Fe High long to respond. It was a three-player effort following a corner header kick from senior striker Jazzi Gonzalez after senior forward teammate Tatiana Winter cross-bounced it off a Bulldog and junior midfielder Lilly Earnest fired it into the middle of the goal in the 63rd minute. Overall, the Demonettes came up with eight shots on goal and Albuquerque High shot nine.

Last season the teams split a home and away rivalry that led to a district tie. In the first match-up this time, Santa Fe High came away with a 2-0 lead in the first half and the Bulldogs scored twice to force two overtimes and emerge victorious. The next stop for the Demonettes is at district opponent Los Lunas Wednesday, followed by being home to Albuquerque Manzano on Saturday.

In the boys match, the defending state-champion Demons quickly fell behind, 2-0, in the first half, and then tacked on a pair of insurance goals in the second half, with three of the tallies coming off Demons mistakes.

With the setback, the teams found themselves in a district-leadItng 5-1 deadlock. Overall, the Bulldogs are 8-2-4 and Santa Fe High 13-3. Demons’ senior goalie Henry Kuchta had three saves out of the seven on-goal shots he faced. Offensively, it wasn’t Santa Fe High’s day, and it plays host next to district foe Los Lunas on Wednesday.