Prep soccer: Most of the top seeds advance in 4A and 1A-3A

No. 1 Hope Christian, No. 2 Albuquerque Academy, No. 3 St. Pius and No. 4 Los Alamos won quarterfinal games on Friday in the Class 4A girls state soccer tournament.

The top three seeds in the Class 1A-3A tournament also advanced to Tuesday’s semifinals.

The exception was No. 5 Bosque School, which eliminated four-time defending state champion Sandia Prep, the 4 seed, in penalty kicks on Friday afternoon.

Class 4A

Hope Christian (20-1) cruised 10-1 against Aztec, setting up a 6:30 p.m. semifinal Tuesday — at Bernalillo High — against the Hilltoppers who ousted No. 5 Artesia 3-0 on Friday.

The Fankam sisters, Bryson and Brooklyn, combined for half of the Huskies’ 10 goals. Bryson had a hat trick; Brooklyn scored twice. Mechi Garbarino had three assists for Hope.

At the Academy, the Chargers (17-3-1) played what coach Andrew Wiese said was “our worst game of the season” but Academy found a way to get to the semis and downed the seventh-seeded Desert Warriors (15-6-1) by a 4-2 score.

Kai Gehres and Izzy Barnes each had a goal and assist for the Chargers, and Amelia Barnes also had a tally for Academy, as did Emma Michael. All four Academy goals came before halftime.

At St. Pius, the Sartans (17-4) started quickly, with goals in the opening 20 minutes from Vanessa Cichy and Maddilyn Garcia.

Cichy added what might have been the most crucial goal, in the 39th minute to send the Sartans into halftime with a 3-1 edge against the No. 6-seeded Patriots (18-4-1).

Class 1A-3A

After losing in the state championship game a year ago, top-seeded Cottonwood Classical (19-2) has been driven all season to get back there to take care of business and Friday’s 4-0 victory over No. 8 Rehoboth Christian at the Mesa del Sol complex was the first step on that mission.

“Last year, we were able to get to the final, and then the final game not going the way we wanted,” said Cottonwood coach Hussein Soueidan. “We lost in the final and this year we are going for it. We are gonna get it this year.”

This team is much more prepared to do that, said attacking midfielder Jaiden Brown, who put on a first-half show, scoring twice and then adding an assist.

“I think there’s been a lot of improvement and adjustments made, which makes this season a lot stronger, and our chemistry from last year carried on to this season,” she said. “We know each other now. We know each other better. We know each others’ personalities and skill level on the field. We know how to put our positions together in this formation, with these new players.”

Cottonwood wanted to set the tone early against the Lynx (8-12), Soueidan said, to help propel them through the rest of the playoffs and it worked out quite well.

“We’ve been talking about it this whole week,” he said. “Our goal is to go in with high energy, keep that energy high and just go.”

Brown clicked early, scoring in the ninth minute off a textbook feed from fellow midfielder Abby Dyer and three minutes later the duo connected again.

But the Coyotes are more than just two top players, they are a strong group from top to bottom, Soueidan said.

“Every single player on this team has their different, unique ability,” he said. “All of our players have leadership. And that’s one thing that I think that’s the major thing if you have in your team, is leadership. And thankfully, every one of our players has that leadership.”

– Glen Rosales, for the Journal

At Sandia Prep, the Bobcats (13-6-1), who have had trouble overtaking Sandia Prep in the postseason the last few years, finally were on the right side against the Sundevils (9-9-2) with a dramatic shootout triumph.

Bosque won 5-3 in PKs. The district rivals were tied 2-2 before penalties.

Bailey Bird, an eighth-grader, slammed home the game-winner in the final round of the shootout. Sandia Prep missed one try and senior Bosque goalkeeper Elia Pizarro-Krichels also saved one shot attempt.

Bosque School was down 2-0 midway through the second half. The first goal came off a deflection as Sandia Prep tried to clear the ball but it bounced in off a Bobcat player; the second goal was an own goal as a Sundevil player accidentally kicked it into her net, Moya said.

The Bobcats are facing Cottonwood Classical Prep in Tuesday’s semifinals. Moya said the game was set for 5:15 p.m. at Mesa del Sol, where the New Mexico United train.

The other semifinal on Tuesday will feature No. 2 Santa Fe Prep against No. 3 St. Michael’s. The Horsemen were 2-0 winners over No. 6 Ruidoso, while the Blue Griffins eliminated No. 7 East Mountain 4-0.

Journal preps editor James Yodice contributed to this roundup.