BERNALILLO—The Los Lunas boys soccer team advanced to the semi-finals of the State Soccer Tournament on Wednesday with a 3-0 win over the Chaparral Lobos at the Bernalillo Soccer Complex.
The first half didn’t contain much action, as both teams struggled to adjust to the sloppy conditions that a morning’s worth of rain provided. Despite being played on grass, the ball played similarly to how it would on turf and was skidding and skipping more than usual.
It was also hard for the players to stay on their feet and a slip from a player trying to play the ball was a common sight.
In the second half, the Tigers finally adjusted to the conditions, later than head coach Eric Chavez would have liked, and were able to build some offensive momentum.
The Lobos had a couple of early chances that they put just wide of the net, but their failure to capitalize on those opportunities would prove to be fatal as minutes later Jordan Arballo would connect for the Tigers to put them up 1-0.
The second goal for the Tigers was scored via a penalty kick that Bryan Tarango both earned and finished off in the lower right corner of the net, past the diving keeper.
Cameron Goeldner, News-Bulletin photo
Arballo added the third to salt away the result off of a rebound in the box.
The Tigers play Albuquerque Academy on Thursday at 10 a.m. for a place in the state championship game. The other team in the championship game will be the winner of the matchup between St. Pius X and Los Alamos.
The Los Lunas girls also played on Wednesday, however, they didn’t fare nearly as well, falling 8-0 to Hope Christian.
The Huskies were dominant from the start and had a two-goal lead barely ten minutes into the game. Hope scored four in each half and controlled the flow of play.
The Tigers never really posed a real offensive threat and were officially eliminated with the loss. LLHS finished the season with a record of 12-10.
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April 11, 2024
