Halloween heartbreak for Los Lunas girls’ soccer team

Albuquerque

It was a Halloween thriller Tuesday afternoon with a nightmare ending for the Los Lunas girls’ soccer team.

Albuquerque High defeated the Tigers 1-0 on an overtime “golden goal,” which ended the first round 5A state playoff game and the Los Lunas season.

From the opening minutes on the AHS campus, it appeared this was going to be a defensive struggle with goals at a premium. Much of the battle took place in the midfield.

“That was rough,” said LLHS junior midfielder McKaylee Burt. “It was definitely a physical game — that’s what makes it fun.”

It’s not surprising that Los Lunas, 10th seeded, and No. 7 AHS went toe to toe. This was the third meeting between the district rivals this season, with Albuquerque winning the earlier matches, 1-0 and 2-0.

Even though Tiger fans were twice the size in number and twice as loud as the AHS contingent, the Bulldogs likely had an advantage playing on their home field, an artificial turf surface that is shared with the AHS football team. The ball moves quicker on the turf, often with unexpected bounces.

Still, the first half was evenly played. LLHS did not put a shot on goal in the first half, while AHS had a few tries that were easily turned away by Los Lunas senior goalkeeper Haylee Driscoll. Burt had one free kick go over the crossbar for LLHS, while a short-range try by Vayda Golino was blocked by a defender.

Albuquerque dominated possession in the second half, with Driscoll making several difficult saves. Eighteen minutes into the second half, AHS launched a laser shot that hit the post and bounced to a wide-open Bulldog player who drilled the ball into the back of the net, but the flag came up and the goal was disallowed because of offsides.

Los Lunas, the only Valencia County program in the postseason, did have several chances during the second half. At one point, the ball bounced over the head of the AHS keeper and just over the goal. A hard strike by senior Mia Carbajal-Hartog was punched away at the last moment.

After a scoreless regulation, it was onto overtime with the first score, a golden goal, clinching it for either team.

Driscoll came to the rescue several times for LLHS during the first overtime period, moving well out of the box to deflect a shot from a Bulldog striker who had broken clear.

“I just saw a gap,” Driscoll said about the play. “I went for it, and I got it.”

But early in the second overtime, Albuquerque put a corner kick in front of the Los Lunas net that wasn’t cleared. AHS senior defender Viviana Munoz headed the ball into the net for the game winner. That started plenty of tears and hugs from a group of exhausted and disappointed Tigers.

“It hurts, but I’m proud of the team,” an emotional coach Jorge Tarango said. “They put up a heck of a performance.”

“We battled, we did all we could,” said Carbajal-Hartog, the Tigers’ leading scorer. “We gave our blood, sweat and tears, literally.”

Tarango had a final thought about his players.

“They put our program in high standing and showed the state what Los Lunas has to offer,” she said. “That’s just the sport of soccer. Sometimes it can be so beautiful and sometimes it can be so cruel.”

Los Lunas (14-6) has a strong core group returning, but will miss seniors Carbajal-Hartog, Driscoll, Isabella Ortiz, Charisma DeHerrera and Rio Romero.

The LLHS boys (4-16, 2-8) completed their season with a disappointing record and will have a new head coach next year after the resignation of Eric Chavez. The Tigers will also need to replace the top three scorers in Carson Lane, Isaac Jiron and Christian Cruz, as well as goalkeeper Sean De Tamble, who posted two shutouts.

Belen

After getting healthy, the Belen girls won six out of their last seven games to finish 9-10 overall and 6-2 in district 5-4A.

The Eagles return most of their roster, including eighth-grader Addison Carter, who was fourth in the state in goals scored in all classifications with 32. Belen has a solid nucleus returning, including Carter’s sister Avery, Sara Martinez and Sophia Cox.

The Belen boys finished their season with a 3-17 and 2-6 record. Junior midfielder Jaret Fernandez led the Eagles in goals and assists. The Eagles will continue to build around Fernandez and BHS freshman midfielder Angel Perez, who was second in scoring. BHS had a combined 11 freshmen and eighth graders on the roster.

Valencia

Two losses to Belen by identical 3-2 scores, one in overtime, may have cost the Valencia girls a return trip to state. VHS (7-10, 4-4) was plagued by a lack of scoring, suffering shutouts in six of their losses. The Jaguars only lose three seniors and have their top two scorers returning in Francesca Otero and Lilly Salazar.

One more victory may have been enough to get the Valencia boys (9-9-1, 4-4) into the state tournament. VHS captured the mythical Valencia County championship by sweeping Belen and Los Lunas.  Replacing top goal scorers Victor Martinez and Kyle Mankins, along with goalkeeper Benjamin Smith, will be a priority for next season.