Portales teams prep for playoff push on the pitch

STAFF WRITER

[email protected]

With the regular season winding down, both the Rams and Lady Rams face off against District 4-4A opponent Hope Christian today, with heavy playoff implications for both Portales teams.

After a brutal span that saw the Rams playing nine games in three weeks, Portales had 10 days off to recover and prepare for its games against Hope today and Moriarty tomorrow.

Staff photo: Matthew Asher

Portales senior Freddy Exiga works on his penalty kicks while freshman teammate Jesus Chavez looks on. The Rams travel to Albuquerque today to face Hope Christian in a game where the winner will likely win the 4-4A Conference.

For the Rams (12-1-1, 3-0-1 district), the winner of this match will likely win the district as well as get a coveted top-four seed for the postseason, meaning a bye into the second round of the playoffs. With Hope Christian (12-3-1, 4-0-1) and Portales currently ranked first and second respectively, the winner will also have home field advantage should they meet again in the postseason. The last time they met, the game ended in a double-overtime 1-1 tie.

“We’ve been working on conditioning and getting back in shape,” boys coach Nathan Dodge said. “We’ve played a lot of two-touch soccer, it’s receive the ball and then pass it, lots of passing, moving and back to what we did to start off the season.”

In addition to getting back to the basics, the time off allowed the Rams to get healthy as four of their players were on the shelf during the three weeks of constant games. All but one of Portales’ players is now ready to step on the pitch today.

“It’s been a real good healing process,” Dodge said.

For the Lady Rams (5-12, 0-3) this road trip is about salvaging the season and getting their first district win of the season on the books. Currently ranked 10th, the Lady Rams are still in the running for a bottom seed in the postseason. Winning two or three of their final games would almost guarantee them a spot in the playoffs.

“We’ve been working on all our skills,” girls coach Ruben Tellez said. “We’ve done a lot of conditioning to get more air in these girls’ lungs. We’ve also been working on communicating better.”

Winning during this road trip would be a morale booster for the Lady Rams who are currently going through a nine-game losing streak. When Portales played Hope Christian (12-3-1, 3-0) in September, the Lady Huskies blanked the Lady Rams 10-0.

Tellez has used the 10 days off to also mentally prepare his team for this match.

“Our attitude is good,” he said. “Our morale is good. They started to believe in each other once again like at the beginning of the season. I’ve been telling them it’s not how you start the season, it’s how you finish it.

“We’ve had a tough schedule with a lot of 6A teams. That’s over now. I told them to not let those losses get to them. If we pull out (a win) against Moriarty and home against Ruidoso we’re in good shape.”

The boys will start at 3 p.m. with the girls following at 5 p.m.