Saturday, September 6, 2008

Tigers able to beat Eagles on soccer pitch once again

BHS gets overtime win over Bernalillo on Hernandez free kick

--Jason W. Brooks, --John Gale News-Bulletin reports

Belen High School's boys soccer team has had an uphill battle in its efforts to beat county rival Los Lunas in recent years, as both teams have had talented players. Tuesday, the Eagles' hill to climb looked even steeper after the Tigers had built a 2-0 lead only 11 minutes into the match.

Los Lunas (4-1) went on to win 3-1, and the Tigers haven't lost to the Eagles since 1996. That streak includes a forfeited game from 2007, an APS tournament match Belen originally won 1-0 a few weeks before announcing it had been using an ineligible player.

Class 4A Belen has a strong team this year, though its defense is young, and the Eagles' inexperience showed in the early moments Tuesday. In the fourth minute, the Class 5A Tigers earned a free kick near the left corner flag. The free kick from LLHS's Jonathan Cole went right to a wide-open Jose Jaime-Rodriguez, who put in the ball near the far post.

Los Lunas kept up the pressure and forced several Eagle turnovers short of midfield. On a throw-in from the right sideline in the 11th minute, Jose Morales launched a throw that Ever Gonzalez headed in for the second goal, needing to outjump only one Eagle defender for the ball.

Martin Betancourt pulled Belen (3-3 after Tuesday) to within 2-1 in the 32nd minute, finishing on a cross that deflected off teammate Ottmar Ruiz. "That goal was actually my fault," said Tiger senior sweeper Michael Loveless. "I went to intercept the cross, and the middle was wide open."

The Tigers could have led by two at the half, as a penalty kick by LLHS's Gerardo Solis sailed wide. Los Lunas got an insurance goal in the 52nd minute from Edgar Lopez-Ramos, and Belen shot wide on its few second-half attempts.

BHS had seven shots on goal to the Tigers' 11, but the Eagles only put one ball on frame in the second half.

Loveless said the Los Lunas defense used shorter passes to get the ball to the midfielders, rather than relying on long balls.

"We just tried to spread the ball to the outside," said Loveless. "We wanted to work the ball up the field with shorter passes."

Even though the Tigers didn't celebrate their forfeit win last year because it was a loss at the time, Loveless said he enjoys being on the third LLHS graduating class (over 11 seasons) that never saw a loss to Belen throughout high school.

"It's good to know we're the best team in the county," said Loveless, whose team beat Valencia High's first-year varsity, 6-1, last week. "Even if it's only by score."

The Tigers next play against Sandia at the Farmers Insurance Soccer Complex at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 9. Los Lunas managed a 2-0 home victory over highly ranked Sandia last year, and the Matadors are currently ranked No. 4 in Class 5A on nmsoccer.com.

Belen 3, Bernalillo 2 (OT)

Belen recovered from a rough start to take a dramatic 3-2 overtime win over Bernalillo on Thursday, as Jaime Hernandez ended the match on a direct kick from 23 feet out in the 7th minute of overtime.

The Eagles took advantage of the Spartans' confusion, which allowed Hernandez to bury the ball in the right side of the net.

"They called a handball, and they set it there," Belen senior defender Brian Jaramillo said. "They were trying to set up a wall, and coach said, 'Hurry up! Kick it!' and Jaime just kicked it before they got ready, and it went in, and it was over."

Hernandez' overtime goal was his third of the match, marking his first hat trick of the season, which salvaged the win after the team started out flat.

Bernalillo scored two goals in the first eight minutes of the match, both off of corner kicks, to put Belen into an early hole.

The Eagles woke up and cut the deficit in half in the 28th minute when Cameron D'Arcangeli got the ball to Hernandez right in front of the net, and Hernandez was able to redirect the pass into the bottom left corner of the net.

Belen nearly gave the goal back just seven minutes later, when Jaramillo pushed one of the Spartans' attackers down in the penalty box, which was called for a penalty kick. But the kick sailed high and wide left.

Despite the early mistakes, the Eagles shored up their defense for the rest of the match, not giving up another goal or even another corner kick and limiting Bernalillo's shots on goals.

And the penalty kick notwithstanding, Weems specifically praised Jaramillo for his overall strong defensive play.

Just after halftime, Hernandez struck again. He took the ball from the left sideline to the top right corner of the box and kicked the ball on a line past the diving goalkeeper into the bottom right part of the net. D'Arcangeli picked up his second assist.

Belen kept the pressure up and got good scoring chances, but couldn't get anything past the keeper, and the match went into overtime.

In the 87th minute of the match, Hernandez sent everyone home with his third goal.

"I'm pretty excited to get all three and win the game for us," Hernandez said.

The Eagles had 19 shots on goal, while goalkeeper Kevin Carrillo made 11 saves.

Weems said that despite the win, his team shouldn't have been in that situation in the first place.

"I appreciate their hustle, and their determination to come back, but we need to play 80 minutes from now on, or else we'll never win games," he said.

Belen is now 4-3 on the season and travel to defending 1A-3A state champion Hope Christian on Saturday at 1 p.m.

Taos 2, Valencia 0

Valencia dropped its third straight home match on Tuesday, falling 2-0 to Taos at home.

Pat Pacheko scored in the 24th minute to give the Tigers a 1-0 lead. After Hafid Valencia got him the ball at midfield, Pacheko simply charged through the middle of the Jaguars' defense and beat goalkeeper Misael Chavez to the lower right corner of the net.

Chavez' strong play in goal almost single-handedly kept Valencia in the match, as Taos dominated the ball throughout the first half.

The Tigers were awarded a penalty shot because of a foul in the penalty box, but Chavez stopped the shot to the lower left corner of the net.

Just before halftime, Chavez made a couple of spectacular plays, first charging to the front of the box to block a shot and then making a leaping save on a shot to the top left corner.

"Misael is playing very well," Valencia coach Mauricio Enriquez said. "I'm happy with him."

The Jaguars stepped their play up in the second half, holding on to the ball much more than they did in the first. But they couldn't break through to tie the game, even though Chavez continued to be strong in goal.

Taos finally iced the game in the 77th minute, when Pacheko centered a pass from the lower right corner of the box to Valencia, who kicked the ball past Chavez for a 2-0 lead.

Capital 4, Valencia 1

In a battle between two packs of Jaguars, Capital beat visiting Valencia 4-1.

Valencia is now 1-6 on the season after giving up goals that coach Mauricio Enriquez described as breakaways.

The host team scored three times in the first half, including a goal just before halftime in the 39th minute. The goal marked the fourth game this season that Valencia has surrendered a goal just before halftime.

"That's a lack of concentration," Valencia coach Mauricio Enriquez said.

The visitors got on the board in the 54th minute, courtesy of Eduardo Ramirez. Alex Macias got the assist on the score.

Capital scored the final goal of the game in the 67th minute. The hosts had 12 shots on goal, while Valencia had 14. Chavez played just the first half, recording five saves, while Gustavo Gonzalez had three in the second half.

Valencia (1-6) plays at Manzano on Tuesday at 5 p.m.

E-mail this story Printer-friendly version