Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Clovis High junior Ava Evans looks to get in position to score during Saturday's girls soccer match against Alamogordo at Leon Williams Stadium, only to be denied as the Lady Tigers' goalkeeper smothers the ball. Alamo posted three second-half tallies to edge the Lady Wildcats 3-2.
Alamogordo girls soccer coach Lee Wilder was happy to get out of town with a victory. His Clovis High counterpart, Ray Rodriguez, thought his squad should have played better.
Down a goal at the half, the Lady Tigers (4-1) found the back of the net three times in the second stanza and held on for a 3-2 victory on Saturday at Leon Williams Stadium.
Senior defender Toni Wilder, daughter of the coach, provided the deciding goal on a penalty kick in the 68th minute of the match for the Lady Tigers, her second tally of the contest.
"It was a hard-fought game," said the elder Wilder, a native of England. "They're a scrappy team, and they've got some really good players. I think they're going to do well.
"We're 4-1, but we're kind of an ugly 4-1."
For the Lady Cats (2-3), it was a bit of a tough pill to swallow.
"We had some chances," Rodriguez said. "We should've put this team away, but we just can't finish."
Junior Ava Evans gave Clovis the lead in the 33rd minute, and that stood up until junior midfielder Olivia Morris notched her team-leading ninth goal about six minutes into the second half.
The Lady Cats had a couple of chances in the interim, but Lady Tigers senior keeper Madison Gigler was equal to the task.
Toni Wilder made it 2-1, converting a pass from junior midfielder Mila Stevens in the 61st minute. Clovis then got a penalty-kick tally from senior Natalie Griego about four minutes later to tie it again.
Clovis returned to action on Tuesday at Lovington. The Lady Cats travel to Farmington this weekend, meeting Piedra Vista on Friday and Farmington on Saturday morning.
Cats second at Los Alamos – Santa Fe Capital took the championship of the eight-team Louie Cernichek boys tournament on Saturday night, edging CHS 3-2 in the championship match.
Each team scored twice in the second half after the Jaguars (5-1) took a 1-0 lead into the intermission.
In Saturday's championship semifinals, the Wildcats (4-2) pulled out a 3-2 victory in overtime over Lovington, getting goals from sophomore forward/midfielder Damian Navarrette, senior forward Ihab Mesbah and junior forward Jose Herrera. Lovington (2-3) received goals from junior forward/midfielder Alejandro Mendoza and junior forward Dylan Gallegos.
Senior goalkeeper Angel Avila posted eight saves for Clovis.
The Cats were slated to host New Mexico Military on Tuesday night. Their next outing is at 3 p.m. on Saturday at Lovington.
