Wildcats slip by Hobbs

CLOVIS — It's been a while since Clovis High junior Hannah Howell has seen a lot of time in goal. She passed a big test with flying colors on Saturday.

Howell made seven saves, including a couple of testy ones down the stretch, and the Lady Wildcats held on for a 2-1 victory over Hobbs at Leon Williams Stadium.

Howell served as a backup to the graduated Hailey Brady last season, seeing only limited time on the varsity and the junior varsity. Her last extended stint in goal came as a freshman on the JV squad.

She posted a shutout in Tuesday's easy season-opening 9-0 win at Lovington. On Saturday, though, Howell was under a bit more fire.

"It was a crazy game, but the girls played great," she said.

With just two seniors on their roster, it was an eye-opener for the Lady Cats, coach Traci Sievers said.

"We're pretty young, but I think this toughened some of the younger girls up," she said. "You can talk about (physical play), but you've just got to play to get the whole picture."

Clovis (2-0) struck in the seventh minute when freshman Madison Lynch charged down the middle and beat Hobbs keeper Andrea Martinez off a lead pass from sophomore Aydan Everett.

The Lady Eagles, playing their season opener, tied it with just under 10 minutes remaining in the half when freshman forward Reyna Navarette got inside the box and beat Howell to the upper left corner.

Hobbs began to take control at that point, but Clovis regained the momentum early in the second half, and freshman Danielle Griego scored what proved to be the game-winner, converting a loose ball from inside 15 feet less than five minutes in.

"We were all so nervous," Howell said. "But once we got that first goal, I think it boosted our confidence."

Hobbs is looking at three matches next week, and coach Alex Lopez said she wants her team to learn from its mistakes.

"We're going to build on it," she said of the loss. "We've got that first game out of the way on the road. The only thing we can do is try to get better in our upcoming games.

"We're still trying to work out some kinks in our midfield and on defense. We tried to play aggressive, and that's what we wanted to do."

The Lady Cats return to action next weekend in a two-day event at Taos. They'll face District 2-6A rival Santa Fe High at 4 p.m. and Farmington at 8 p.m. on Friday, then close with a 1 p.m. outing on Saturday against Bosque.

Sievers said she's glad the team has a few days between matches.

"We've got some recovery time, but we also have time to work on some things," she said.

Hobbs boys outlast Cats - It took an unusual play, but the Eagles finally broke through on a direct kick in the 95th minute on Friday to edge CHS 1-0 at Hobbs on Friday night.

Wildcats keeper Spencer Rollins was called for a handball after he was ruled to have stepped outside the 18-yard box on a punt. That led to a direct-kick goal by Hobbs junior midfielder Alan Sanchez.

"It was just an unfortunate thing," said CHS coach Greg Trujillo, who didn't agree with the call from the official. Both teams are now 1-1 for the season.

The Cats and Eagles both finished with nine shots on goal. Trujillo said his team misfired on some good scoring opportunities throughout the match.

"I'd say our guys played really well," Trujillo said. "We had some opportunities, but we didn't convert."

The Cats return to action in an eight-team weekend tournament at Los Alamos, facing Los Lunas in a quarterfinal contest slated for 11 a.m. on Friday.