Rams pull sweep over East Mountain

PORTALES — Ram soccer successfully pulled off a girls/boys doubleheader sweep on Saturday afternoon over East Mountain. The Portales girls took the early game, 2-0, before the boys took the late game, 2-1.

For the Rams (3-9) boys team, it was Lesther Oliva Andrade who really stepped it up on Saturday afternoon. Andrade scored both goals, including the game winner.

“He’s one of those guys that are really thirsty for goals,” Rams coach Juan Mendez said. “That’s what we need is guys that are gonna go out there and score some goals. His second goal was amazing. He cut, perfect placement. He’s improved a lot.”

Thirty minutes into the first half, Marcos Chavez’ shot was saved by East Mountain (2-9) goalie Zane Randall. However, a diving Randall couldn’t quite corral the ball, allowing Andrade to knock it in for the lead.

The T-’Wolves responded in the early stages of the second half, as Jose Perea turned around and banged in a shot with his left foot to tie it up. But, in the 67th minute, Andrade pulled off a similar goal to Perea, stopping on a dime, spinning around and drilling it past Randall into the right corner of the net.

Both sides, looking to turn their respective seasons around, showed how badly they wanted to win from the get-go. The game oftentimes got chippy, and overly physical. The two sides, in fact, were yellow carded five times combined, including three for Portales.

“I thought we fought hard, I thought we were just as strong as them and I felt like they were really dirty,” East Mountain boys and girls coach John Sabrowski explained. “A lot of dirty play. We tried to answer back as much as we could for that.”

Mendez responded by saying, “It was a real physical game, and in my opinion, I felt like the refs let it get too far. They weren’t calling some fouls. Yeah, there was a lot of dirtiness. Not just on (East Mountain’s) side, but our side, as well.

“I’m not gonna say we were perfect, because I saw some of our players (mixing it up) too. It’s just something we need to work on, which is keeping our composure. We keep racking up yellow cards and I think it’s if we get 24 or 25, you’re out.”

At any rate, both sides did a good job of not allowing it to get too far out of hand, as emotions sometimes ran high. Sabrowski was the T’Wolves girls coach, but now, he must take on both boys and girls duties. Saturday marked his first game as boys coach, and overall, he felt that his team did well, but not enough to get the win.

Portales, on the other hand, will begin District 4-4A play on Tuesday at Lovington.

“I’m excited, but we do have a lot of stuff to work on. Practices have been so rough with all of these injuries we’ve had,” Mendez said. “The numbers is what’s really been killing us. I feel like it’s gonna be really hard, but if these guys want it, we can do really good in district.”

As for the Portales girls (6-5), a pair of first-half goals lifted the Rams to a 2-0 victory on Saturday. As a result, they now have won five of their last seven, dating back to Sept. 10.

“We came out and played good today. Our touches were better, our defense was better,” Rams girls coach Ruben Tellez said. “At the end, we kind of had a few breakdowns and luckily (goalie) Jazmin (Valenzuela) was able to save the ball.

“Some of the younger girls came in and they stepped up for us today. Overall, it was a team effort. The girls played great, and their passes were awesome.”

In the 25th minute, senior Rebekah Christensen drilled a free kick from the left side, right into the goal for the early lead. Nine minutes later, freshman Zoe Roy took a Christensen pass, and drilled the ball straight-on from 10-15 yards out.

“I felt like our possession was good at the beginning. I thought we played pretty well, and we controlled some minutes of the game. We just didn’t create enough up top,” Sabrowski said. “We need to create more chances.”

The Rams begin district play at home against Lovington on Thursday, looking to make it six out of eight victories.

“It starts with senior leadership,” Tellez explained. “Rebekah (Christensen) and Micaela (Garcia) have been great leaders. Practices are becoming more like, ‘OK, we got to take this more seriously’ — and that’s coming from the seniors. When (the younger girls) start hearing from their own teammates, it makes a difference.”