Belen Eagles fall in return to state soccer playoffs

MORIARTY — The first playoff trip since 2015 for the 10th seeded Belen girls’ soccer team ended Tuesday with a 5-0 loss to No. 7 Moriarty (14-5-1) in the 4A State Tournament.

It also was the final game for Eagles coach Ernest Gonzales, who said he is retiring.

Aside from adjusting to artificial turf, the Eagles (14-6) dealt with 50 mile per hour winds in their face during the first half.

“Oh, the wind was so bad,” said Jordan Ammons, BHS senior. “It kind of messed up our flow.”

Belen had several first half scoring chances, including a free kick by Addison Carter that died in the wind, falling right to the goalie.

Carter finished her freshman season with 61 goals, best in New Mexico and third in the nation.

Moriarty scored twice in the first half within about a minute. The first goal came on a rebound in front of the net, the second on a blast from outside the penalty area.

In front of enthusiastic fans, split evenly between both schools, the winds calmed as the sun set. That denied the Eagles an edge as the teams switched directions at halftime.

Moriarty then added three goals to secure the victory.

Gonzales felt, perhaps, “the moment overwhelmed us,” being in the state tournament after a nine-year drought. “Probably nerves got the best of the girls.”

“We started a good program,” Ammons said. “I’m really excited to see how it’s going to turn out.”

The Eagles will move forward without eight seniors and Gonzales, who said he is retiring to spend time with his new grandson.

“We enjoyed the trip. It was a great journey this year,” he said. “Getting to state was a beautiful thing.”

Girls’ soccer recaps

While BHS had joy when the brackets were announced Sunday, there was heartbreak for the Los Lunas girls, the other Valencia County team considered a realistic candidate to make the postseason.

There was dead silence as the Tigers (12-5, 6-2) watched the 5A reveal together.

“Not seeing our name up there was pretty upsetting,” said Jorge Tarango, LLHS head coach. “It was a tough pill to swallow.”

A 2-1 overtime loss Saturday to Albuquerque High (10-7-2, 8-0) probably sealed the Tigers’ fate. Los Lunas lost in overtime to AHS during the state playoffs last season as well.

“We had a really good season. These girls put it all out there,” Tarango said.

LLHS loses four excellent seniors, including Eleah Sangre, with 31 goals, McKaylee Burt, 21 goals and 12 assists, Nevaeha Aragon, 12 goals, and defender Adelina Villanueva.

“We’ll be younger next year,

he said. “We’ll still be very competitive.”

In 4A, the Valencia girls (2-16-1, 1-7) ended the season Thursday with a 3-0 setback to Belen.

“It was up and down,” is how Kimberly Chavez, VHS head coach described the season, pointing to a small roster and inexperience. “We had a lot of new players who were new to the game, completely.”

Chavez will need to remake her defense next season after losing several key players, including goalkeeper Brandy O’Connor and halfbacks Lilly Salazar, Isabella Chambers and Anna Hopkins.

However, Chavez saw growth in her younger group, which featured eight players that are eighth-graders or freshman.

“The score didn’t always show it, but we did improve. The girls that were new just made a huge difference.”

Boys’ soccer recaps

A 6-2 victory last Thursday over Belen ended the season for Valencia (7-11-1, 4-4).

“It was a difficult season. It was a learning season,” said Eric Gutierrez, VHS coach.

Still, Gutierrez was pleased with the effort against BHS and believes the progress will continue.

“It’s what we’ve been training for,” Gutierrez said. “I hope to see it continue throughout the summer and come back stronger next year.”

Valencia loses just three seniors in Sebastian Fierro, Angel Alcala and Joshua Acosta. The teams’ top scorers will be back in Bladimir Ramirez, Pecos Jones and Juan Avila, along with goalie Andres Burkhard.

“I’m hoping to be twice as strong,” said Gutierrez.

Belen (6-13-1) doubled its win total from last season. The six wins are the most for the Eagles since the 2019 campaign.

“The morale has been high. We’ve really improved in some areas,” said Edgar Lopez, BHS coach.

Lopez did acknowledge the ups and downs of the season, largely because of youth and inexperience.

Lopez saw the Eagles improve in understanding the basics of the game, which included positioning, communication and “wanting to compete the whole 80 minutes-plus, the whole game without giving up.”

Nine seniors will move on for next year, including netminder James Gabaldon, along with offensive weapons, Adrian Rodriguez and Oscar Perez. However, top scorers Raul Medrano and Guilherme Garcia will return.

For the Los Lunas Tigers, the tragic death of senior Sergio Aldaz in a motorcycle crash left a lasting impact on the LLHS community.

On the field, Los Lunas (1-17) had a small roster that lacked experience.

Daniel Martinez, who returned for a second stint as Los Lunas coach, will rely next season on a group that is now battle-tested, including goalkeeper Freddy Garrobo, strikers Manny Avita and Eduardo Parra and defender Giuseppe Ledda.