Clovis snaps skid, moves to 9-2

CLOVIS — The Clovis girls soccer team is back — in more ways than one.

The Lady Wildcats are back from a weekend road swing in Albuquerque, playing at home again Tuesday night, but have also bounced back from the two-game losing streak they endured on that trip. Tuesday at Leon Williams Stadium, the Lady ’Cats rebounded big time with an 8-0 victory over Portales and improved to 9-2.

“I think they feel a lot better with where they’re at now then where they were this weekend,” Clovis head coach Traci Sievers said. “We found out this weekend that there were some things we needed to work on, so we got to work on those things today.”

And for Portales, despite the eight-goal difference, head coach Ruben Tellez saw it as somewhat of a silver-lining game.

“Last time it was the same score, 8-0,” Tellez said. “But last time we played them, it was pretty horrible. Playing the game was bad. Today we played much better — we had better passes, better touches, better defense.”

That Lady Ram defense was pretty solid through much of the first half. Though Clovis had built a 5-0 advantage by halftime, the lead was just 1-0 until 16:39 before the break.

That first goal had come in the sixth minute. Clovis’ Kelsey Kendall was working the ball right, working it right and working it some more, but Portales booted it away. Danielle Griego sent the rebound to Nevaeh Coronado, who fired it in.

Just three minutes later, Lynch was using some nifty footwork to get through the Portales defense, until the Rams’ Rebekah Christensen booted it away. And two minutes after that, Portales’ Micaela Garcia scissor-kicked a ball backward and away from danger.

The Rams hung on for quite a while longer, but at that 16:39 mark, a Lynch direct kick found its way into the left corner of the net, doubling Clovis’ lead.

Clovis’ third goal, though, was probably the most impressive. Lynch was racing for the ball before Portales’ Mikaela Garza beat her to it and kicked it out of bounds, out of danger. That set up a Coronado corner kick, and when she sent it toward Portales’ goal, the Rams’ Daniela Exiga headed it away, again out of bounds.

That set up a Lynch corner kick, which she lofted from the left corner and deposited into the upper right corner of Portales’ goal, making it a 3-0 game with 13:50 left in the first half.

With just outside of eight minutes left in the half, Lynch scored again, and she scored her fourth goal, Clovis’ fifth, with a little more than four minutes to play before halftime.

Kasey Ayre, Coronado and Lynch provided Clovis’ second-half scoring, giving Lynch a five-spot for the night and putting the Lady ’Cats back into the win column before they head to Goddard on Thursday. Things could be turning Clovis’ way again.

“We’ve got some girls that have been injured,” Sievers said, “and we’re starting to get them back right now.”

Portales will forge ahead and keep trying to grow.

“We were down 1-0 and had a few collapses. They scored three or four goals quick,” Tellez said. “I’ve got to tip my hat to Clovis, they’re a good team. They play a lot of soccer year-round. They play indoor soccer, they go to tournaments. Our girls, they need to understand that, in order to be competitive, you have to play more soccer.”