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Clovis girls soccer team routs Santa Fe

CLOVIS — Before the start of Saturday's Santa Fe-Clovis girls soccer game, the Lady Wildcats escorted members of Clovis' youth soccer program onto the field at Leon Williams Stadium, the future of Clovis High soccer on display.

The Lady 'Cats then went out and took care of the present, dispatching the Lady Demons 6-0 to return to the .500 mark overall while bagging their second District 2-6A victory.

Umbrellas were open in the stadium bleachers, but not for the bad reason. They were to ward off the warm sun which grew warmer as the game went on. Pleasant enough conditions in which to post a home district win by shutout. But then, it's always pleasant when you win.

"Yeah, it was nice," said Clovis head coach Traci Sievers after her team improved to 8-8-2 overall, 2-4-2 in district competition. "The passing was good today and we were finishing lots of opportunities."

Goals went in from the left, from the right, from the middle. Some came in from varying arcs. Half of them were supplied by freshman striker Madison Lynch, who was more proud of her team's effort than of her substantial contribution to it.

"I like winning a lot," she said. "I feel like it brings all our confidence up."

Helping in that department was the presence of former Clovis varsity assistant and junior varsity coach Miriam Morales. She spent three seasons with Clovis before her husband, Omar Morales, left Eastern New Mexico University to take over the Houston Dash of the National Women's Soccer League.

"She came today and (the Clovis players) were surprised and happy," Sievers said. "I think they wanted to show off for her."

"I feel like we wanted to impress her so she'd be like, 'Ooh, look who I coached,'" Wildcats freshman goalie Hanna Nussbaumer said. "I feel like it boosted our confidence."

For her part, Nussbaumer gobbled up what came her way. Little did, thanks to Clovis' offensive dominance, especially in the second half. But Nussbaumer did maintain the shutout.

"We haven't had one of those in a long while," Sievers said.

Sometimes, though, a dominant offense can make for a lonely goalie on the other end.

"You've just got to support your team and hope for the best for them," Nussbaumer said. "You've just got to stay positive and keep your team up."

Clovis snowballed its way to the victory, starting slowly before seeming almost unstoppable in the second half to keep Santa Fe winless (0-8) in district play and 3-15 overall. More than 33 minutes elapsed in the first half before Clovis finally struck, getting one off a Jazmin Valdez corner kick. No other Wildcat touched the ball, which bounced off a Santa Fe defender's side for an own-goal at the 6:45 mark.

With less than two minutes remaining before halftime, Lynch zipped one in diagonally from the right, allowing the Lady 'Cats to take a 2-0 edge into the break.

Open flew the floodgates in the second half. Was it not for Santa Fe junior goalie Janney Martinez sliding and diving to make impressive save after impressive save, the Lady Wildcats might have ended things early on the 10-goal mercy rule.

A mere 1:48 had transpired before Clovis notched its first goal of the new half. Seconds earlier, Lynch had been charging straight at the goal, but was sent to the turf by a Santa Fe defender. On the resulting penalty kick, Lynch considered her shot carefully, took her time, then calmly deposited the ball into the right side of Santa Fe's net, making it 3-0.

A high-arcing shot by freshman Hailey Griego stretched Clovis' lead to 4-0 with 23:47 to go; Lynch completed her hat trick on a direct kick with 4:21 remaining; and junior Kelsey Kendall launched a shot that arced a bit before finding the Lady Demons' net with less than two minutes to play.

All in all, a great day for the Lady 'Cats, who host Sandia on Tuesday at 6 p.m.