Cats rout Aztec; Lady Cats split

LOS ALAMOS – Even though his team breezed to a quarterfinal win on Friday in the eight-team Louie Cernichek tournament hosted by Los Alamos, Clovis High boys soccer coach Greg Trujillo said his team could have played better.

Senior forward Ihab Mesbah and junior forward Jose Herrera each scored a pair of goals as the Wildcats did all their damage on offense in the first half in an 8-1 victory over the Tigers.

Clovis (3-1) was slated to play either Lovington or Los Lunas in Saturday morning's semifinals. The third-place and championship matches were slated for later Saturday.

With the big lead, Trujillo began substituting late in the opening half. Freshman midfielder/defender Irving Mendoza's goal made it 8-0 with about eight minutes left in the half, but the Cats never scored again.

"We took our foot off the gas," said Trujillo, whose teams have participated in this event in each of his 17 years as coach, winning the title in 2018 and finishing second twice. "(Players) were trying to get their stats, and it became a sloppy game."

Mesbah also had two of the Cats' six assists in the match. Sophomore forward/midfielder Damian Navarrette, junior forward/midfielder Julien Salinas and freshman midfielder Josh Ashton each had a goal, while Salinas, senior defender Andrew Cordova, sophomore midfielder Balthazar Garcia and junior forward/midfielder Anthony Quinones each added an assist.

Senior Bryce Martinez broke up the shutout for the Tigers (1-3) with a goal in the 55th minute.

Clovis outshot Aztec on goal 19-5. Senior goalkeeper Angel Avila collected four saves for the Cats.

Next up is a 6:30 p.m. Tuesday clash against New Mexico Military at Leon Williams Stadium.

Lady Cats repeat results from tournament – At Leon Williams Stadium on Tuesday, junior Ava Evans posted a four-goal night and the Lady Cats coasted to their second 4-1 victory over Lovington n four days.

"We moved the ball a lot better (than in a season-opening tournament in Roswell over the weekend)," Rodriguez said. "We created (scoring) opportunities, and our defense was way better."

CHS led just 1-0 at the half, but Evans tacked on a pair of goals when play resumed, then tallied again after Lovington (0-4) had scored its only tally of the night.

Eighth-grader Evelyn Baldwin earned the win in goal for the Lady Cats.

On Thursday night, host Artesia posted a 3-1 victory over Clovis after defeating CHS by a 4-1 count in the Roswell meet.

Evans picked up the team's only tally late in the second stanza to prevent the shutout.

"We had a whole lot of mental mistakes that we're not picking up on," Lady Cats coach Ray Rodriguez said.

The Lady Bulldogs (5-2) broke through late in the half when sophomore Maleyna Pando found the back of the net.

"We left the middle wide open, and they snuck it in there," Rodriguez said.

Artesia made it 3-0 early in the second half on goals by junior Casey Dickson and senior Peyton Stone, the former on a penalty kick.

The Lady Cats (2-3), who were slated to host Alamogordo on Saturday, had a return match in Lovington on Tuesday night. They will be in Farmington over the weekend, playing Piedra Vista on Friday and Farmington on Saturday.