Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
CHS junior forward/midfielder Julien Salinas tries to pry the ball away from Roswell Goddard senior forward David Alvarez during Monday's season-opening boys soccer match at Leon Williams Stadium. The Wildcats defeated the Rockets 4-0.
ROSWELL – It was rough sledding out of the gate for the Clovis High girls soccer team on Friday night.
Playing in an eight-team tournament co-hosted by Roswell High and Roswell Goddard, the Lady Wildcats absorbed a 6-0 loss at the hands of Centennial in the quarterfinal round.
CHS was slated for two matches on Saturday, facing Lovington in the semifinals in the morning and then playing for either fifth or seventh place in the afternoon.
The Hawks led just 2-0 at the intermission before pulling away.
"At halftime, we were kind of hanging in there," Lady Cats coach Ray Rodriguez said. "We just have a pretty young backline and a pretty young goalkeeper."
After today's matches, the Lady Cats return to action on Tuesday, hosting Lovington at Leon Willliams Stadium.
Meantime, Clovis High's boys earned a split in their season-opening matches, blanking Roswell Goddard 4-0 on Monday night at Leon Williams Stadium before dropping a 3-2 heartbreaker in double overtime on Thursday against Hope Christian at Albuquerque.
In Monday's win, the Wildcats had the better of it throughout, leading 2-0 at halftime and adding on in the final stanza.
Senior forward Ihab Mesbah had two goals for Clovis, while junior forward Jose Herrera and freshman midfielder/defender Irving Mendoza each added a tally. Senior Angel Avila earned the shutout in goal for the Cats.
In Thursday's contest, CHS had a pair of one-goal leads and carried a 2-1 advantage into the closing moments after Mesbah scored with about five minutes left.
The Huskies, though, came back to tie it with about three minutes remaining, and then won it with a goal early in the second OT.
"We had chances to win it and they had chances," Clovis coach Greg Trujillo said. "We played good enough to win. We had chances and they had chances."
Senior Jannik Garcia had a pair of goals for Hope Christian (1-0), while senior Lucas Salas claimed the other.
Junior forward/midfielder Felix Hernandez put the Cats on top in the first half, but the Huskies got a late goal to pull even at the intermission.
Trujillo said the Cats let a potential winning scoring opportunity slip away late in regulation.
"We had a chance to win it in the first overtime, but we just missed it," he said.
The Cats hosted Lovington on Saturday. They are also in action again on Tuesday, facing Portales in a 6:30 p.m. tilt at Yucca Middle School.
