Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Portales High junior Anthony Cordova tries to keep Clovis High junior Ihab Mesbah away from the ball during Tuesday's boys soccer match at Leon Williams Stadium. The Wildcats won 5-1.
Junior midfielder Fernando Segovia scored a pair of second-half goals on Thursday and Ruidoso defeated Portales High 2-0 in boys soccer at the PHS pitch.
Segovia tallied his first goal in the 50th minute and then provided insurance in the 68th minute for the Warriors (3-4-1).
Senior goalkeeper Mathew Garcia provided six saves for the Rams (0-5-1), who were outshot by Ruidoso 8-5 on goal.
"They're pulling it together," PHS boys coach Dustin Harden said of his squad. "Every time they step on the field, they're playing their hearts out."
Meantime, the girls contest was played after the boys and made it to halftime before rain washed the rest of it away. The Lady Rams (3-2-1) managed a scoreless tie against the Lady Warriors (5-3-1).
PHS squads were slated to host Santa Fe-based Academy for Technology & the Classics on Saturday. The girls return to action on Tuesday against Robertson in Las Vegas, while the boys don't play again until Oct. 3 when they open District 4-4A play at home against Lovington.
Clovis girls 2, Roswell Goddard 0 (Thursday) – At Roswell, senior midfielder Aspen Ulibarri scored one goal and assisted on the other as the Lady Cats (8-2-1) posted their fourth win in a row.
Ulibarri assisted on the first goal of the game, by senior forward/midfielder Natalie Griego in the 25th minute, then she added her eighth goal of the campaign with about 3 ½ minutes left.
Clovis won despite the fact that the Lady Rockets (6-5) outshot them 9-3 on goal. Senior Aja Gonzales was equal to the task on all nine shots en route to her seventh clean sheet this season.
"I thought we had a very slow start," CHS girls coach Ray Ramirez said. "We're lucky we didn't lose tonight.
"If it wasn't for our keeper, we would have lost. She was very, very solid tonight."
The Lady Cats were slated to play at Belen on Saturday. Their next outing is in a 6:30 p.m. tilt against Las Vegas Robertson on Wednesday at Leon Williams Stadium.
Clovis 5, Portales 1 (Tuesday) – At Leon Williams Stadium, the Wildcats (3-9) got two goals apiece from junior forward Ihab Mesbah and sophomore midfielder Julien Salinas in cruising to their second win of the season over the Rams.
Mesbah scored the team's first and last goals, coming in the eighth and 79th minutes. Senior midfielder/defender Isai Barraza made it 2-0 in the 17th minute before Salinas poked in a deflection of a shot off the goal post to make it 3-0 at the half.
Salinas added his second goal midway through the second stanza. PHS got on the board in the 67th minute when senior forward/midfielder Addison Pritchett slipped a shot past CHS goalkeeper Cooper Harriman.
The Cats outshot PHS 13-5 on goal. Harryman finished with four saves while senior Mathew Garcia notched eight saves for the Rams.
Clovis was to return to action on Saturday at Belen. The Cats' next outing is in a 2 p.m. Saturday match against Taos at Leon Williams Stadium.
In a girls tilt, played at Yucca Middle School, the Lady Rams (3-2) built a two-goal lead at halftime and held off the Clovis junior varsity 3-2.
Sophomore Maria Lujan had a pair of goals for Portales (3-2), including the deciding tally with about seven minutes left. Sophomore J'Lynn Maestas had the team's other goal.
