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Lady Rams third in Hatch tourney

HATCH – Portales High’s soccer girls finished one of the best weeks in program history over the weekend, winning twice to take third place in the eight-team Hatch Valley Invitational.

Portales used a 4-0 second-half charge to thump the host Lady Bears 6-2 in Friday quarterfinal. PHS (3-3) then lost to Santa Teresa 4-0 in Saturday’s semifinals before taking out Chaparral 2-0 in the third-place contest.

With a 5-0 win at West Las Vegas on Wednesday, PHS posted a 3-1 mark for the week.

First-year coach Laci Lozoya said her team did well.

“We have two more tournaments coming up,” she said. “Tournaments are hard on your bodies, but the girls gave it all they had.”

Junior forward/midfielder Maria Lujan provided most of the offense, scoring five of the team’s eight goals. She posted a hat trick against Hatch (1-5), including the first two goals of the second stanza to give the Lady Rams the lead for good, then added a pair in the final 18 minutes as PHS turned back Chaparral in the finale.

Meantime, Santa Teresa posted both of its goals in the semifinals on second-half penalty kicks.

Freshman midfielder Abby Nunez had a first-half goal in the win over Hatch, while the last two were scored by junior midfielder Chiara Gard and senior defender Kadynce Reeves.

Junior goalkeeper Lissette Gomez compiled 25 saves over the weekend, including 19 in the match against Santa Teresa (4-1-1). Lujan and sophomore midfielder/defender Natalie Tirado represented the Lady Rams on the all-tournament team.

Both PHS squads will be in Alamogordo for a four-team tournament this week, with the girls facing Alamogordo at 3 p.m. on Thursday and the boys taking on the host Tigers at 5 p.m. The teams return to Alamo on Saturday for either the third-place or championship match.