State soccer brackets announced; action begins Tuesday

La Cueva’s boys and Volcano Vista’s girls on Sunday were awarded No. 1 seeds for the upcoming Class 5A state soccer tournament.

The New Mexico Activities Association announced the fields for Classes 5A, 4A and 1A-3A. The playoffs begin Tuesday (girls) and Wednesday (boys) with first-round matchups in 5A and 4A.

The 1A-3A action won’t get underway until Friday and Saturday. That division features eight-team fields, versus the 12-team brackets in the two larger classes.The three girls state championship games are scheduled for Friday, Nov. 7, at the University of New Mexico complex. The three boys finals are the next day.

BOYS: The Bears (17-1-2) have shown the way the entire season, and now they set out to finish on top with three more victories.

But their playoff opener, on Saturday in the quarterfinals, is a potentially treacherous one: they face either Eldorado, which tied La Cueva in the rivals’ most recent meeting, Oct. 15, or Albuquerque High, the only team to have beaten the Bears this season.

AHS and Eldorado meet Wednesday night in the first round.

Rio Grande, Rio Rancho and Sandia also have first-round byes. The second-seeded Ravens, in pursuit of the program’s first blue trophy, will face district rival Atrisco Heritage or always dangerous Volcano Vista in the quarterfinals Saturday. No. 7 Volcano and No. 10 Atrisco meet Wednesday at 3 p.m. on the Hawks’ field.

Centennial, the defending 5A state champion, is an 11 seed and faces Gadsden on Wednesday.

The winner plays No. 3 Rio Rancho on Saturday in the quarters.

Sandia, the 4 seed, gets Hobbs or Mayfield in the quarterfinal round.

St. Pius has the No. 1 seed for the 4A playoffs. Santa Teresa was next, then Albuquerque Academy, then Artesia.

Artesia, the 4 seed, is in the top half of the draw with the Sartans, and these two just met week before last. St. Pius (16-1-3) has only one blemish on its ledger, a loss to Sandia.

Hope Christian is No. 6 and opens at home Wednesday afternoon against No. 11 Deming. Academy, the defending champion, faces the winner of that game on Saturday.

Santa Fe Prep was the state runner-up in 1A-3A last November; the Blue Griffins have the top seed for this tournament. Two-time defending champion New Mexico Military Institute was seeded third, with perennial power Sandia Prep between the two as the No. 2 seed.

The Sundevils take on Santa Fe-based Academy for Technology and the Classics in Saturday’s quarterfinals. No. 4 Bosque School also is in action Saturday, squaring off with fifth-seeded East Mountain.

GIRLS: Eldorado, La Cueva and Rio Rancho were seeded 2-4 behind Volcano Vista (16-4). The Hawks will join the bracket Friday with a quarterfinal game against the Gadsden-Farmington winner.

Seeds 5-12 are all from outside of the metro area, with one exception: No. 11 Albuquerque High, which visits 6 seed Organ Mountain on Tuesday night in the first round.

The winner of that one meets defending state champ La Cueva in Friday’s quarterfinals.

Hope Christian (19-1), which just had its 56-game winning streak snapped on Friday by Albuquerque Academy, is the top seed in the 4A bracket, followed by the Chargers at No. 2. St. Pius has the 3 seed.

“We are renewed and we’re humbled, and I think that’s good stuff,” Hope coach Amy Fankam said as her team looks to hit the reset button.

The bottom half of the bracket features a pair of relatively new faces: Valley, a 10 seed, and Highland, the 11 seed which is taking only a dozen players to the postseason.

The Vikings (10-9-1) haven’t been to state in 12 years. The Hornets (13-7) haven’t been in 18 years.

“We’re beyond excited,” Highland coach Mike Thomas said. “Last year we were really close, and it was a heartbreaker at the watch party. We’re ecstatic.”

Said Valley coach Dana Deschiney: “It has been a long drought. I think what really helped us this year is, the younger players on the team, they really drove this team.”

8-MAN/6-MAN FOOTBALL: Grady (6-Man) and Fort Sumner/House (8-Man) are the No. 1 seeds for the playoffs, which start next weekend.

Menaul will have a home game in 8-Man. The eighth-seeded Panthers are home on Halloween night at 6 p.m. against No. 9 Clayton.

These district rivals already met this season, on Oct. 3, a 52-40 road win for Menaul.