State prep soccer roundup: No. 12 5A boys seed Cleveland upsets Albuquerque High

By Lolly Garcia On Oct 26, 2022

Albuquerque High School’s Saul Alonso, left, blocks a shot by Cleveland’s Brayan Ramirez. (Adolphe Pierre-Louis/Journal)

2022 Fuddruckers Boys Soccer State Championships 5A Boys

By seed line, this was an upset. The largest one possible.

But the Cleveland Storm boys soccer team didn’t see it through that lens at all. They might have been the last team into the field, but they were the first team to advance, and were hardly surprised to have done so.

The 12th-seeded Storm, in the first game of this year’s high school state soccer tournament, knocked out No. 5 Albuquerque High 1-0 on Tuesday afternoon in a Class 5A first-round game at Bulldog City.
“I think they underestimated us coming into this game,” Cleveland senior midfielder/forward Jack Marshall said. “And we (put) it to them.”

It was Marshall who authored the game’s lone goal.

Albuquerque High’s Shane Pierson, left, defends Cleveland’s Dominic Aguilar. (Adolphe Pierre-Louis/Journal)

Teammate Christian Dapolito slides the ball to his left, hugging the turf to Marshall on the left wing. From just inside the 18, Marshall gathered the pass on his left foot, pivoted and fired a shot with his right foot into the upper left corner, beating Bulldogs goalkeeper Gael Flores in the 53rd minute.

“The way I opened up, it kind of looked like I was going right, but I played it left and mis-footed him,” Marshall said.

At the other end, Cleveland (10-6-5) sophomore goalkeeper Joaquin Armijo — formerly a field player who is in his first season between the pipes — made two outstanding saves in the final moments to preserve the lead as Albuquerque High (13- 3-4) pressed forward in an attempt to get the equalizer.

“When we got the 12 (seed), we grinned,” Cleveland coach Shaun Gil said. “We were just thankful to get in, but soon as they gave us a chance, the boys rallied around it, and we didn’t care what we were seeded. Let’s just run.”

The Storm’s next run is a lengthy one.

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Cleveland plays at No. 4 seed Hobbs (16-3-1) at 1:30 pm Saturday in the quarterfinals.

The other three 5A first-rounders were being played Tuesday evening: Sandia at Organ Mountain, Rio Rancho at Santa Fe, and Atrisco Heritage at Santa Fe.

Cleveland and Hobbs met on Sept. 10 in the championship game of the Albuquerque Academy Invitational. Technically, the game went down as a 1-1 draw; the Eagles eventually won in penalty kicks.

“We shouldn’t have lost that game,” Marshall said. “It’s tough to go out on pens.”

Gill said his Storm is just as likely to win a blue trophy as anyone come next Saturday.

“I think anyone from 1 to 12 can win this thing,” he said. “There is no outstanding team that is above everyone else.”

Albuquerque High, the District 5-5A champion, was hosting on its turf field on the west side of the campus. AHS’ natural grass field, on the east side, is pretty torn up and the school is hoping to have it repaired for next season.

The Storm looked right at home on the turf, as it plays its home games on turf. And it never for a minute looked like an underdog.

“We came in, a 12 seed, nothing to lose,” Marshall said. “They had everything to lose. We move on.”
— James Yodice

CLEVELAND 1, ALBUQUERQUE HIGH 0
Cleveland 0 1 — 1
AHS 0 0 — 0
Scoring: Cle, 53rd, Jack Marshall (Christian Dapolito). Shots on goal: C 6; AHS 8. Saves: Cle, Joaquin Armijo 8; AHS, Gael Flores 2. Corners: C 1; AHS 2. Records: C 10-6-5; AHS 13-3-4.

2022 Fuddruckers Boys Soccer State Championships 4A Boys

CLASS 4A BOYS:Hope Christian got a lot more than it bargained for from Deming in the first round of the boys Class 4A state soccer tournament.

The sixth-seeded Huskies (16-4-1) rallied from an early 1-0 deficit to edge the scrappy No. 11 Wildcats 5-4 in a shootout on Tuesday afternoon at their home field.

Hope (16-4-1) can now breathe a temporary sigh of relief as it advances to the quarterfinals for a showdown at third-seeded Los Alamos. Deming (6-12-3) was a more difficult matchup than its record might have indicated.

“That didn’t seem like an 11 seed by any means,” said Huskies coach Steve Kokulis. “That was a solid, quality team on the other side today. We were fortunate today.”

Hope keeper Cody Guggino stopped the first shot of the shootout by Deming’s Sebastian Bustillos, and all five Huskies were successful on their attempts. Hope senior Josh Kelshaw sealed the victory by nailing the final penalty kick.

“Honestly, the only thing that was going through my mind wasn’t letting down my coach or my team,” Kelshaw said. “It was kind of surreal, honestly. It was just not about me anymore at the end of the game. It was about the others that I work for.”

Deming seized momentum in the first half when Juan Gonzalez took a long pass over the top of the defense, beat a Huskies defender one-and-one and found the back of the net for a 1-0 lead in the 30th minute.

“We were kind of shocked,” Kelshaw said. “I guess the only thing I could say is we were like, ‘OK it’s time to wake up, time to turn our brains on and get working.'”

Hope tied the score shortly before halftime when Bailyn Gasper scored on a free kick from just inside midfield. From there, it was essentially a stalemate between the two sides until the shootout.

“It was a long set piece, and we were fortunate that it found the back of the net,” Kokulis said. “We’ll take it. That obviously helped us going into the second half.”

— Tristen Critchfield

NO. 6 HOPE CHRISTIAN 1, NO. 11 DEMING 1 (Hope won shootout 5-4)

Deming 1 0 0 0—1

Hope Christian 1 0 0 0—1

Scoring: D, 30th, Juan Gonzalez; H, 40th, Bailyn Gasper. Goalkeepers: D, Charlie Hofacket; H, Cody Guggino. Records: H 16-4-1; D 6-12-3.

2022 Fuddruckers Boys Soccer State Championships A-3A Boys

2022 Fuddruckers Girls Soccer State Championships 5A Girls

CLASS 5A GIRLS: The reigning Class 5A girls state soccer champs began their title defense Tuesday, winning at home against a familiar playoff opponent.

In a rematch of last year’s state semifinal, the five-seed Cibola Cougars (13-6-0, 5-3 in 1-5A) defeated the 12-seed Hobbs Eagles (9-9-3, 5-1 in 4- 5A) 3-2 in the tournament’s first round.

Cibola scored the game winner in the 77th minute despite being one player down. Brooke Volza delivered a cross and fellow senior Ava Carpentier buried the game winner.

“It wasn’t our best game of the season, but we stuck it out and were able to get the win in the end,” Cibola coach Heath Weihe said. “Hobbs came out ready to play… and gave us a great game.”

Weihe said, “there’s been pressure on us all year” when it comes to being the defending champions. “We try to alleviate it, but every time we step on the field it’s in the back of our minds.”

The score was knotted at two after a physical first half. The Cougars struck first in the 6th minute as Volza scored off a feed from senior Neveah Flores.

Hobbs equalized in the 16th when senior Lexie Hernandez took advantage of a bouncing ball in the box.

The Cougars regained the lead in the 23rd minute after Flores finished a long ball from senior Joyce Sanchez off a set piece.

Hobbs sophomore Brianna Baker tied it again in the 39th with a strike from outside the 18.

“I think we had a lot of nerves to start. We never really quite relaxed,” Weihe said.

The physicality continued in the second half. In the 61st minute, Cibola senior Ariana Bathurst was given a red card, forcing her out for the rest of the game and also Cibola’s quarterfinal game vs. four-seed Volcano Vista.

“It was an unfortunate incident,” Weihe said. “Ari’s not one to lose her cool.”

Cibola and Volcano Vista split their season series, both winning by a goal on the road. The Cougars defeated the Hawks 3-2 in overtime on Oct. 5, and Volcano Vista won the rematch 2-1 on Oct. 21

The Hawks’ last loss was to the Cougars.

“We’re comfortable playing them; we know them,” Weihe said. “It can be anybody’s game.”

— Carl Knauf

- - The Albuuqerque High girls also were eliminated on Tuesday. The seventh-seeded Bulldogs and No. 10 Santa Fe were knotted 1-1 through regulation and two overtimes. The Demonettes outshot AHS 5-4 through eight rounds in penalty kicks to advance to the quarterfinals.
  - La Cueva and Sandia’s girls both advanced Tuesday with first-round victories. The Bears, seeded no. 9, won 1-0 at No. 8 Clovis on a goal in the 99th minute — late in the second overtime — from Makayla Chavez. 11 Organ Mountain 3-0 at the APS Complex, and Sandia moves ahead to face No. 3 seed, and district rival, Eldorado, in the quarterfinals.

2022 Fuddruckers Girls Soccer State Championships 4A Girls

2022 Fuddruckers Girls Soccer State Championships A-3A Girls