Both Los Lunas High School soccer teams played at home on Saturday morning, and both suffered losses against Albuquerque opponents.
The Los Lunas Tigers boys soccer team suffered its first loss of the season last weekend, falling 3-1 to Atrisco Heritage Academy at home. With the loss, the Tigers drop to 9-1 on the season.
The Jaguars struck first, and wasted little time before doing so, scoring less than five minutes into the game. Kenny Rivera got the early goal for Atrisco, beating goalie Pablo Zarraga after getting in behind the defense thanks to a long goal kick.
With 10 minutes left in the first half, the Tigers leveled things with a free kick from just outside the box, as Ruben Munoz did the honors of slotting the ball into the back of the net amidst the chaos in the penalty box, as he beat a defender as well as a teammate to the ball in order to level the game.
However, things wouldn’t remain tied for long, as Stefan Molinar scored with three minutes left in the first half to give Atrisco the lead for good.
AHA iced the game away in the second half when Jovany Villaba added the third.
The Tigers still had their chances, however, particularly at the end of the game, but the numerous attacks, as well as multiple corner kicks, came up empty and resigned LLHS to its first defeat of the season.
After the loss, the Tigers dropped to No. 8 in the state, according to MaxPreps rankings.
Head coach Eric Chavez said the goal for his team was never to finish the season undefeated, as the Tigers primary focus is winning a State Championship as well as the district. The Tigers return to action tonight at 4 p.m. when they host Belen to open district play.
Los Lunas Girls
Meanwhile, on the next field over, the Los Lunas girls fell to visiting Sandia High School (3-5) by a score of 2-0 to drop to 6-4 on the year. The Tigers were unable to build on the momentum of a massive 9-0 win over Gallup last Thursday.
The Matadors dominated the ball and put the Tigers defense under constant pressure. LLHS goalkeeper Maddison Escajeda put up an impressive effort in goal despite allowing the two goals, saving 18 shots.
Sandia scored once in each half, both times via freshman Laila Ortiz-Nolan.
The visitors wasted no time getting on the board, scoring after being awarded a penalty kick.
Ortiz-Nolan slotted it home in the third minute to give the Matadors a 1-0 lead, it would turn out to be the game winning goal, as the Tigers were shut out for the second time in less than a week.
LLHS hasn’t finished a game yet this season with a single goal either being shutout or scoring at least twice in every game so far this year.
In the second half, Ortiz-Nolan doubled the lead with another goal, this time slotting the ball into the lower corner past a diving Escajeda on the counter attack and secured the result for the vistors as a strong contingent of fans celebrated.
Los Lunas returned to action on Tuesday against West Mesa, with results for that game available at news-bulletin.com.
The team will travel to Belen tonight at 4 p.m. to kick off the district schedule of games.
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April 19, 2024
