Boys soccer teams open district play with a pair of wins

RIO RANCHO 9, FARMINGTON 0

RIO RANCHO (Sept. 25, 2024) - The Rio Rams (9-2, 1-0 in 5A-D1) handled business against the Farmington Scorpions (3-8, 0-1 in 5A-D1) on Wednesday night, defeating their rivals 9-0 in the opening match of district play.

“We feel good about opening district play with a big win,” said head coach John Shepard after the game. “Let’s hope we can keep it rolling from here forward. Our district is notoriously a dog fight.”

Plenty of the varsity players got playing time in the match as the Rams got out to a fast start. Less than a minute into the contest, senior striker Aaron Meserve knocked one past Scorpions goalkeeper Trejin Toledo. Aaron Meserve would have two goals in the game, as would Bryson Strohecker.

Mateo Dean led the RRHS scoring with a hat trick—three goals.

“We tell the guys we have between 15 and 17 starters. We take a great amount of pride in the fact that putting in the (additional players) doesn’t affect the level of play,” Shepard said.

Rio Rancho’s potent offense and stifling defense just proved too much for Farmington and the 5-0 halftime score told the tale of a game already decided.

The sprinklers came on in the second half... literally. There was a brief, five-minute game stoppage in the second half due to the automatic sprinklers disrupting play at one end of the pitch.

Farmington drops to 3-8, but will hope to get right against the Cleveland Storm (6-4-1, 1-0 in 5A-D1) who are coming into their stadium this Saturday at 1 p.m.

Rio Rancho continues their hot streak, adding one more to their now-seven-game winning streak, and improving their record to 9-2. Next, the Rams head to Volcano Vista (4-4-2, 1-0 in 5A-D1) to face the Hawks at noon on Saturday.

CLEVELAND 3, CIBOLA 2

ALBUQUERQUE (Sept. 25, 2024) - Cleveland High School (6-4-1, 1-0 in 5A-D1) open district play with three straight road games. That’s not an easy task, but the first game is in the books and the Storm walked away with a hard-fought 3-2 “W” against the Cibola Cougars (2-8, 0-1 in 5A-D1).

The leading goal scorer for the night was Storm sophomore phenom Eric Andrade, who scored two goals on two shots. The third CHS goal was scored by senior Mario Montoya.

For the Cougars, junior Caden Barnard and freshman Ryder Herbert scored a goal apiece in the second half.

Despite a hard-fought game that went into three minutes of extra time, Cibola drops to 2-8. Next, they face Piedra Vista (8-3, 01- in 5A-D1) at home on Saturday at 1:15 p.m.

The Storm head north for their second road game, this time at Farmington (3-8, 0-1 in 5A-D1) on Saturday at 1 p.m.