Prep soccer: Clovis girls top Portales, move to 6-0

PORTALES — Portales and Clovis each had one mission in Thursday’s girls soccer matchup at Greyhound Stadium.

For the young Lady Rams, it was a measuring stick for how close — or how far away — they are as contenders. As for the Lady Wildcats, it was about reinforcing the strong start to their 2018 campaign with yet another exceptional outing.

Ultimately, the latter proved to be true in an 8-0 Wildcat victory. Clovis’ Danielle Griego was responsible for four of the eight goals, notching a hat trick in the first half.

“I knew, 1-on-1, we’re better skilled and we just took it,” said Griego, who is one of now eight different Clovis players to score a goal so far this year. She netted her first goal in the ninth minute, after splitting defenders and kicking the short goal across her body.

She then needed just nine more minutes to drill a shot from straight-on, putting the Wildcats (6-0) ahead, 2-0. After a Cora Dahlquist goal off of a Nevaeh Coronado corner kick, Griego snuck another shot past Portales’ Jazmin Valenzuela for the hat trick.

In all, five different Wildcats scored Thursday afternoon. Portales (1-3) had just seven shots on goal.

The Rams only return a couple of lettermen, and certainly felt the frustration of a younger team, after going down 5-0 at the half.

“They outhustled us today,” Rams coach Ruben Tellez said. “They had everything going today. We didn’t play well, and I guess it’s my fault. You have to be ready, and I told these girls all week, ‘You have to be mentally prepared for Clovis. Yeah, they’re gonna be good, but the thing is, you have to be ready.’”

Tellez said he felt like his team had never played soccer before, compared to the previous couple of games. Nonetheless, he says that Thursday was just a minor setback, as his Rams will get Clovis again in two weeks.

But, the skill of the Wildcats was undeniable, and Tellez does feel that his girls need to take more time to develop their own skills.

“Like I told my girls, ‘We’re seasoned players, and they’re soccer players. They play all year round, and some of you girls need to get in and start playing more,” Tellez explained. “You can’t just try out and start playing in August. If you wanna compete at the varsity level for district championships and go to state, you have to continue to get better. That’s on the weekends, that’s after practice — it’s just what you want.”

While the Rams are finding ways to get better, the Wildcats just keep on rolling along. Clovis has allowed one goal through six contests, meaning five shutouts. In all, the ’Cats have outscored their opponents, 29-1. Griego herself now has a team-high seven goals on the season.

However, while coach Traci Sievers was pleased about a lot of things on Thursday, she knows there’s still lots more work to do.

“I like the way we were able to finish,” she said. “Our shooting percentage was higher than it has been in games in the past. Anytime you can score eight goals, it’s good. We’ve still got things we need to work on with being consistent with passing and communication.”

Clovis will host Artesia next Tuesday, while Portales hosts West Las Vegas on Monday.