Saturday, June 7, 2008

Belen hires Melissa Gurule as soccer coach

Jason W. Brooks News-Bulletin Staff Writer; jbrooks@news-bulletin.com

Belen The fourth new head coach to take over the Belen Lady Eagle soccer team in the last five seasons will be a very familiar name to those who follow the program.

Melissa Gurule, a 2004 BHS graduate, will take over the Lady Eagles, Belen Schools athletic coordinator Jim Danner said Thursday. Gurule scored 123 goals in her varsity career as an Eagle player, and remains the program's all-time leading scorer.

Gurule, who couldn't be reached for comment before News-Bulletin press time, takes over an Eagle team that has struggled since joining District 5-4A in 2005. The Eagles went 11-28 in the final two years under Kathy Dockery, whose contract wasn't renewed for the 2008-09 school year.

Gurule, who played forward in her high school years, teamed with goalkeeper Stephanie Sanchez to help lead the Eagles to the Class 4A state semifinals in 2002 and 2003. The Eagles, who suffered injuries at many key positions in 2006-07, went 5-16 and lost 11 of their last 13 games.

The Eagles went 75-27 and made state playoff appearances each season from 2000 to 2004, and were 63-21 in the four years the team was coached by Nettie Salas, who resigned after the 2004-05 season.

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