Portales soccer teams eliminated

Staff Reports

The Portales Rams soccer teams both hit the road for the first round of the state playoffs and came home without a win as the Rams lost 6-0 and the Lady Rams lost to Sandia Prep 7-0.

The Rams (7-11-1) knew they had to do their best to keep Taos forward and leading scorer Aidan Cserhat from beating them. Cserhat only scored once during the game, but four of his teammates, including his brother Nico, accounted for five goals as the Rams were eliminated from playoff contention after a 6-0 loss to the Taos Tigers Saturday afternoon.

The Tigers (15-6) scored four first half goals including two by Carlos Ruiz. They added two more in the second half by Aidan Cserhat and Enoch Garner.

Rams coach Nathan Dodge was disappointed that season is over, but was happy with the effort that his team showed in getting to the playoffs. “I’m proud of them for making the playoffs, especially when we had a few games where we didn’t win for a while.

"The guys never gave up and they knew what we had to do to get here and they responded great,” Dodge said. “I’m going to miss our seniors. We had seven of them and they all worked hard all season and they did a great job.”

Heading into the game, the Rams were on a two-game winning streak and won three of their last four to get into the playoffs.

The Lady Rams also lost 6-0 to the Sandia Prep Sundevils. The Lady Rams (8-11-1) finished the season on a three game losing streak after. The Lady Rams will lose eight seniors to graduation before next season.

Coach Sarah Vasquez was not available for comment by press time.