Favorites advance in 4A, but not in 1A-3A

The top two seeds in the girls Class 4A state soccer tournament won their semifinal games on Tuesday. The top two seeds in the girls Class 1A-3A state soccer tournament did not.

Hope Christian is poised to capture a fifth straight 4A title, but the Huskies will have to go through district rival Albuquerque Academy, the 2 seed, to do that.

No. 5 Bosque School and No. 3 St. Michael’s each posted upsets in the 1A-3A semifinals on Tuesday, and the Bobcats will play the Horsemen at 3:30 p.m. Friday at the University of New Mexico complex.

That game is preceded at 1 p.m. Friday by Hope-Academy; the Chargers won the most recent matchup between the schools, a victory that ended the Huskies’ 56-game winning streak.

Class 4A

No. 2 ALBUQUERQUE ACADEMY 2, No. 3 ST. PIUS 1: At the Academy, the Chargers needed approximately four minutes to turn the tables in its semifinal matchup against St. Pius.

Academy used second-half goals from Amelia Barnes and Selena Broussard to rally for a victory over the rival Sartans at Richard A. Harper Memorial Field.

Academy (18-3-1) improved to 2-0 against St. Pius (17-5) after previously besting the Sartans 2-1 in overtime on Sept. 16.

“I think this was a classic Academy-Pius game. It was back and forth. There were chances on both sides,” said Chargers coach Andrew Wiese. “I think that it comes down to moments. And we had a couple of girls do some things in a moment that made the difference.”

Academy’s bid for a third consecutive championship game appearance didn’t get off to a promising start, as St. Pius scored in the 6th minute to take an early 1-0 lead. From there, the Chargers maintained their composure and kept their rivals in check the rest of the way.

“We were definitely frustrated because we knew we could play better than that, but we have so much grit,” Broussard said. “We were able to really get back and not let this one goal change our whole game and mess up what we were trying to do. And even though it took some time, we just continued to build upon the things we know we can do, and it resulted in a win.”

Broussard played a significant role in the game’s momentum shift. First, she drew a penalty on St. Pius to give her team a penalty shot in the 55th minute, which Barnes converted with ease. Then, she simply shed and outmaneuvered a group of Sartan defenders to put home the decisive goal in the 59th minute. In both cases, Broussard proved to be adept at using her size to her advantage.

“She’s so strong,” Wiese said. “And when she gets the ball and uses her body the way she did there, she’s really difficult to defend. … Where she actually got through and got that goal on the near post, she just had a little more room to maneuver. And you can see how devastating she was on the finish. It was a brilliant goal.”

Academy will now look ahead to a meeting with the four-time defending state champion Huskies, which have beaten the Chargers in each of the last two Class 4A finals. However, Academy did defeat Hope to win the District 6-4A crown on Oct. 24.

– Tristen Critchfield

No. 1 HOPE CHRISTIAN 4, No. 4 LOS ALAMOS 0: At Bernalillo High School, The Huskies showed exactly why they are the still top dogs in Class 4A, advancing to the state championship game for the sixth consecutive time,

Hope (21-1) and Academy are vying for the 4A title for the third straight year.

“They’re all just special in their own ways,” Huskies coach Amy Fankam said of the different championship matches. “You have different relationships with different players, but I think every year you get here, you’re more grateful because it feels like every year it gets a little more difficult. The target on your back gets a little bit bigger, the girls have to work a little bit harder, so probably that makes it more special, just in the sense that it is so difficult to get here year in, year out. And nobody knows that like these girls know that.”

Hope didn’t really seem to have many issues with the Hilltoppers (14-7-1), scoring in the second minute after a defensive miscue that Hailey Sanchez snared and quickly slipped a pass to Mechi Garbarino, who tucked it home.

Then it was the Brooklyn Fankam show as the coach’s daughter turned in a hat trick with a goal in the 29th minute and two more in the second half. The first of those came on a well-placed through ball from her older sister Bryson and the others were assisted by Mason Ricker and Garabino.

“My teammates are just amazing,” Brooklyn Fankam said. “So I’m really grateful for them because without them, I obviously couldn’t have gotten the ball to score those goals.”

— Glen Rosales

Class A-3A

No. 5 BOSQUE SCHOOL 1, No. 1 COTTONWOOD CLASSICAL PREP 0: At the Mesa del Sol Complex, the Bobcats (14-6-1), for the third time this season, had a one-goal lead on the Coyotes (19-3) in the second half. For the first time, and at the most opportune time, Bosque closed it out.

“When we were up 1-0, it was still a little nerve-wracking, knowing what Cottonwood had done to us,” Bobcats coach Johnny Moya said.

Midfielder Layla Chimenti’s through ball to veteran forward Rose Candelaria led to a fantastic chance early in the second half, and Candelaria, from just inside the 18-yard box, slotted home a goal in the 45th minute as the Bobcats upset CCP after losing both district matchups to the Coyotes.

“These,” Moya said of Candelaria, “are games she’s used to.”

No. 3 ST. MICHAEL’S 1, No. 2 SANTA FE PREP 0: At Santa Fe Prep, the Horsemen (17-5) advanced to the state final for the first time in four years. They met Bosque in early September, a 2-1 triumph for the Bobcats.