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Cats, Lady Cats struggle against Hobbs

HOBBS — It wasn’t too good of a day for Clovis High’s soccer teams on Saturday.

First, the Lady Wildcats absorbed their third consecutive District 4-5A setback, falling to Hobbs 2-0. Then the Hobbs boys handed the Wildcats a 5-1 setback in the second half of the twin bill.

First-year CHS girls coach Ray Rodriguez has led his squad to an impressive season so far, including a 1-0 double-overtime win over previously unbeaten district leader Carlsbad at Leon Williams Stadium on Sept. 28.

But after their mini-losing streak, the Lady Cats (12-4-1, 2-3 district) are teetering on the bubble just a bit in hopes of a Class 5A postseason berth.

Admittedly, their setbacks haven’t exactly been to slouches — two to Hobbs (12-4-1, 3-2), ranked fifth in Class 5A, and a 1-0, double-OT setback in the rematch with the third-ranked Cavegirls (18-1, 4-1) last week.

“l don’t know what it is about Hobbs,” said Rodriguez, whose team is 10th in the latest MaxPreps poll. “We’d had some good practices going into the game, but we were just flat.”

Sophomore forward/midfielder Hannah Davila scored for the Lady Eagles in the first half, and senior forward/midfielder Brianna Rivera added insurance in the second stanza.

Meantime, Hobbs (14-4, 4-1) rolled to a 4-0 halftime lead and cruised in the boys matchup against the Wildcats (5-14, 2-3).

Both Clovis squads finish the regular season on Thursday with 6 p.m. clashes with Roswell High, the girls at Leon Williams Stadium and the boys in Roswell.

Lady Rams eke out OT win — Lovington has had a really tough season in girls soccer, but the Lady Wildcats have pushed Portales to the brink in two of three meetings.

PHS (8-8, 2-3 District 4-4A) edged Lovington on penalty kicks in a season-opening tournament in Roswell, but the Lady Rams romped to an 8-2 victory in the first district meeting on Oct. 2 in Portales.

On Saturday, it was more of the former.

Lovington (1-15, 0-5) had a 2-0 halftime lead and a 3-1 advantage early in the second segment. But junior midfielder Paola Quezada’s second goal with just over three minutes left in regulation tied it, and eighth-grader Maria Lujan got the game-winner late in the first sudden-death overtime to give the Lady Rams a 4-3 win.

PHS girls coach Bonnie Britton acknowledged she didn’t mince too many words during halftime.

“I’m glad we came out in the second half and played some soccer,” she said.

Junior forward/midfielder Jolie Griffith scored early in the second half to pull the Lady Rams to 3-2, but their was no more scoring until Quezada found the back of the net down the stretch.

Senior forward/midfielder Celest Dominguez had a pair of goals for the Lady Wildcats.

Both of Portales’ squads finish the regular season with 6 p.m. district matches on Thursday, the Lady Rams hosting Roswell Goddard at the PHS pitch while the Rams (2-10, 0-5) visit Artesia.

Cats, Rams run at Academy — Portales High junior Michael Riess finished fifth in boys Division A competition in Saturday’s Albuquerque Academy Extravaganza.

Riess posted a time of 17 minutes, 18.23 seconds in the 5K event. The Rams were 20th in a field of 25 teams.

Meantime, the Lady Rams did not field a full team. Their top runner was eighth-grader Aubrey McNeill, 42nd in a field of 160 runners in 22:54.14.

Clovis High, competing in Division A, placed 20th out of 25 teams on the boys’ side and 19th of 22 squads for the girls.

Freshman Sammy Fuentes led the Wildcats, placing 66th in a field of 201 runners with a time of 18:11.66. The top runner for the Lady Wildcats was senior Jazlyn Salazar, 97th out of 173 runners in 23:37.41.

Next up for both schools is a pre-district meet slated for 3:30 p.m. on Thursday at Eastern New Mexico University in Portales.

 
 

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