The Los Lunas High School boys and girls soccer teams have qualified for the state playoffs, which begin tomorrow.
The Lady Tigers, who finished the regular season with an 11-9 record, are the seventh seed and will host Lovington in the first round. The game is scheduled to begin tomorrow at 3:30 p.m. at LLHS.
The winner of the game will move on to face the No. 2 seed Hope Christian at 2 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 6, at the Bernalillo Soccer Complex.
Los Lunas received an at-large bid into the playoffs after finishing third in the district behind St. Pius X and Grants. The Pirates received the six seed, while the Sartans are the number one overall seed.
Seeding is done based a team’s finish in district play, with all district champions receiving an automatic bid, as well as head-to-head results, wins against district champions, overall record, the MaxPreps rankings and finally input from the school itself.
The New Mexico Activities Association doesn’t have any input on the process as it is set up to be entirely data driven in order to avoid any potential controversies.
The Wildcats come to Los Lunas with a 10-10 record on the year and a 4-2 record in district, finishing in third place behind Goddard and Artesia.
LHS makes its return to the playoffs after missing out last year due to a 5-13 record. America Hernandez leads the Wildcats offensively, with 28 goals and five assists to her name in 17 games this season, according to MaxPreps stats.
Los Lunas, meanwhile, is making its seventh straight appearance in the championships, a streak that dates back to 2013. The Lady Tigers have yet to advance past the quarterfinals and lost in the first round last year to Artesia, 1-0.
Hope Christian will be a tough task for the winner, sitting at 17-3 on the season.
The Huskies’ only losses came to St. Pius X, the No. 1 overall seed in Class A-3A, Sandia Prep, and No. 3 seed Albuquerque Academy and the team has set a goal of winning a state championship this season.
Los Lunas Boys
The Los Lunas boys check in as the No. 4 Seed in the bracket, behind Albuquerque Academy, Los Alamos and St. Pius X.
Having the four seed gives the Tigers a first round bye, putting them straight into the quarterfinals where they will take on the winner of Friday’s game between Highland and Chaparral.
The Tigers play their first game in the tournament next Wednesday at 10 a.m. at the Bernalillo Soccer Complex.
The Lobos are the No. 5 seed and the favorite to advance to take on LLHS.
CHS has a 13-6-1 record on the season and went a perfect 6-0 in district 4A-3 play, winning in dominant fashion.
The Lobos only allowed two goals in their six district games while scoring 28 en route to the district crown.
The team will go into the match with Highland on a ten game win streak and ranked as the fifth best team in 4A according to MaxPreps.
As for the Hornets, they finished the regular season with a record of 8-9-1 and 5-4-1 in district 4A-6 play, good for a fourth place finish in a district that includes No. 1 Albuquerque Academy and sent four teams total into the playoffs.
HHS is the eighth ranked team in 4A according to MaxPreps.
663
April 19, 2024
