Goddard tops Rams 4-0

PORTALES — The Portales Rams were hoping for a bright spot to end a season that went south late. Instead, they got a big dose of Gabriel Sanchez.

After battling through a scoreless first half, Sanchez pulled through in a big way, scoring all of Goddard’s goals in the second half of a 4-0 victory Thursday at Portales High School.

Sanchez’ big day came on an afternoon where the Rockets (10-8, 4-2) were simply trying to bolster what coach Fernando Sosa hopes is a playoff resume. The Rockets will find out Sunday if they make the 12-team Class 4A bracket.

“I think we’re still in it,” Sosa said. “We’re right there on the bubble. Looking at the other teams and who they’ve played, I think we have a good chance.”

Portales saw its season end at 3-16 with an 0-6 mark in District 4-4A.

“The second half of our season has been rough on our numbers, with injuries and sickness,” first-year Portales coach Juan Mendez said. “I feel like we’ve grown a lot since our first game. You could tell watching them. Not a great record, but we’ve made a lot of improvements.”

Sosa thought Portales played well on defense, and had to make a few adjustments in a game where they got most of the shots they wanted (15-4 advantage on the day).

“We changed the formation a little at the half, put Sanchez in the middle,” Sosa said. “Then we went back to what we initially used. They’ve got good defenders. They stacked up the middle and we weren’t able to get around them.”

Girls fall to Goddard — The Portales girls faced Goddard Saturday, the second time in the week the two teams matched up.

Goddard won the pair, taking Monday’s matchup 2-1 and Saturday’s 4-1.

The Rams’ regular season concludes witha 5-11 record, and an 0-6 mark in district.