Lovington scores late to beat CHS

CLOVIS - While being outplayed much of the way, the Clovis High boys soccer team had a puncher's chance for a long time in Thursday's matchup with Lovington .

An own-goal by Clovis broke a scoreless tie in the 51st minute, and Lovington went on to claim a 3-0 victory at Leon Williams Stadium.

Lovington (8-2-1), two-time Class 4A defending state runnerup, didn't really have control until scoring twice late in the match.

CHS coach Greg Trujillo said the Wildcats (4-8-1) were their own worst enemies.

"The bottom line is we've played soft defense the whole year," he said. "We still don't learn from our mistakes."

Lovington coach Reyes Marquez said his squad caught a break with the first goal.

"That kind of happened at the wrong time for them," he said. "It was a pretty good battle for a while. They were coming after us hard."

Senior forward/midfielder Kevin Gallegos and junior forward/midfielder Yahir Esparza added late goals for Lovington, which outshot the Cats 12-1 on goal and had a 6-0 margin in corner kicks.

Lovington, which has allowed just 11 goals this season, is playing a more defensive style to suit its personnel, Marquez said.

"It's not the style I normally play," he said. "We're still not scoring in buckets, but we're not built that way."

Meantime, the Cats lost junior Drex Carter and sophomore Angel Nunez in the second half to leg injuries, although Carter was able to return during the second stanza.

"We couldn't get pressure on them," Trujillo said. "Defensively, they're pretty aggressive."

District 4-5A play begins this week for the Cats with home matches against Carlsbad on Tuesday and Hobbs on Saturday.

Girls soccer - At Albuquerque, host Cibola broke the match open with three second-half goals en route to a 4-0 victory over Clovis High.

Senior Ava Carpenter had two goals and an assist for the Cougars (8-3), ranked fourth by MaxPreps in New Mexico Class 5A, while senior Brooke Volza added a goal and two assists. Senior Nicole Carsten added the other goal, while junior Lindsey Harris earned the shutout, making four saves.

The Lady Wildcats (11-3), ranked eighth in 5A, had won five in a row and 11 of 12. Clovis begins District 4-5A action on Tuesday at Carlsbad.

Volleyball - On Tuesday at Roswell, the host Goddard Lady Rockets put a quick end to Clovis High's four-match winning streak from the previous week.

Goddard (6-1) had control pretty much from the start and posted a 25-14, 25-20, 25-8 victory over the Lady Wildcats (6-7).

"We've got to be ready to play," CHS coach Darrel Ray said. "When you've got nine or 10 people in a regular rotation, you'd better have 9 or 10 people doing pretty well. You can't have several people underperforming."

Junior outside hitter Kailyn Jefferson had seven kills for the Lady Cats, but no one else had more than three. Junior outside hitter Aeryanne Conn posted 20 digs, but she was the only one in double figures in any category.

Clovis was slated to compete in Portales High's six-team Peyton Chavez Invitational over the weekend, an event which also included Texico in the field. The Lady Cats are back in action on Tuesday, hosting Portales in a 7 p.m. clash at The Rock.