CLASS 6A STATE SOCCER: Lady Cats face familiar foe in first-round tilt

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It’ll be like old times today when the Clovis High girls soccer team plays at former district rival Carlsbad in a 2 p.m. Class 6A first-round match.

link Staff photo: Tony Bullocks

Clovis High sophomore midfielder Annie Stone, left, and senior midfielder Mariah Griego battle for possession with a Santa Fe High opponent near midfield in their Sept. 27 District 2-6A match at Leon Williams Stadium.The Lady Wildcats, seeded 10th in the 12-team Class 6A state tournament, visit former district rival Carlsbad in a 2 p.m. first-round clash today.

The Lady Wildcats (11-7-1), seeded 10th in the 12-team field, and the Cavegirls (15-4-1), seeded seventh, were longtime rivals in the former District 4-5A, then 4-6A, before they were split up after last season. They have not met this year.

“We’ve had some common opponents,” CHS coach Traci Sievers said. “They have a lot of girls back from last year’s team.”

The Lady Wildcats (11-7-1), who edged out Hobbs and Carlsbad for the district title last year, are making their third consecutive trip to the state playoffs after having not gone since 1998. Meantime, the Lady Eagles and Cavegirls (15-4-1) finished 1-2 this year in District 3-6A, while Clovis finished fourth in six-team District 2-6A with a 5-5 mark.

“Carlsbad has mercy-ruled several teams this year,” Sievers said.

The teams have played four common opponents, including Hobbs twice apiece. The Lady Cats are 4-1 in those matches, including a split with the Lady Eagles, while the Cavegirls are 3-2 with both losses to Hobbs.

The Cavegirls have four players with double-figure goals for the season in seniors Tessa Graham (22), Julia Thompson (20) and Ashley Rhodes (13), and junior Rylee Hoover (10). Rhodes leads the team with 15 assists, while Thompson has added 10.

Senior goalkeeper Hailey Brady said playing a foe you’re reasonably familiar with is a good thing.

“It helps to know what they can do, for the most part,” Brady said. “You can go off what you’ve seen.”

Senior forward-defender Jaci Sievers tops Clovis with 15 goals, and has added seven assists. Sophomore forward Sofia Rico has 14 goals and seven assists, senior forward Dani Rodriguez has notched eight goals and 10 assists and senior defender Kileigh Dlouhy also has 10 assists.

Brady noted the Lady Cats were competitive in every match, outscoring their opponents 56-23 and allowing more than two goals only once — in a 4-2 tournament loss to Farmington in late August.

“I’m happy with the way we’ve been playing in our district,” she said. “I’m proud of this team and what we’ve been able to do.”

The rest of the tournament will be at the Bernalillo Soccer Complex. This weekend’s four first-round winners, plus the top four seeds who have byes, advance to the quarterfinal round on Thursday, with all matches slated for noon.

The Clovis-Carlsbad winner draws second-seeded Cibola (13-3-2). The championship match is set for 3 p.m. next Saturday.