District thriller: Cleveland and Farmington tie underneath the bright lights

RIO RANCHO — The high-flying Farmington Scorpions girls soccer team (10-4-3) traveled to Cleveland High School Oct. 15 for a district matchup with the feisty Storm squad (5-9-3) that ended in a 1-1 tie.

"We’ve been coming out hard at practice everyday knowing that we are going to bringing that same energy to the games from here on out knowing that these next few games are the most important for the outcome of our team," Cleveland center back Anneliese Prosch said.

This was the second matchup between the Scorpions and Storm teams who played Sept. 27 in Farmington, with that game ending in a 0-0 tie.

As for this past Wednesday’s game, a big factor in the match was Mother Nature herself, who delivered some high winds to Thunderbolt stadium.

The Scorpions were on the attack early on and had some nice looking sets from seniors Eliza Palmer and Miquey Allread, both of whom are captains.

The Storm settled in quickly and provided some nice runs of their own. A huge threat for the Storm was midfielder Rhyan Dooley, who has the speed and savviness to get through a defense.

In fact, Dooley got behind the Farmington defense in the middle of the first half and raced to a ball that would put her in a one-on-one situation with the Scorpion goalkeeper Ashlynn Sandoval.

As both players bolted toward the ball, Sandoval accidentally collided with Dooley. Sandoval was given a red card, and the Scorps would be down a player for the rest of the game.

Farmington head coach Bryce Frost adjusted. First, he sent sophomore Brooklyn Herrera from the field to the goalie net. Then, he had freshman Chloe Huff as a true center back and last line of defense.

The adjustments evened the scales, and neither team scored a goal at the conclusion of the first half.

In the second half, Cleveland began getting some nice fast breaks off, and a several beautiful passes were being sent from Aliyah C’deBaca, who was playing center back.

Storm freshman Milagro Hernandez displayed some elite and smooth footwork that got her past multiple defenders.

On one Storm sequence, Dooley sent a nice through ball to senior Ambree Mason, who got behind the entire Farmington defense.

Mason was able to get a shot off, and it was smacked away by Herrera. Off the save came a sprinting Cleveland player, Morgan Spaeth, who buried the ball into the net. The goal would be Spaeth’s fifth of the year.

However, the Scorpions would not wave the white flag.

Sophomore Avery Sandefer, who was playing right winger, took a ball about 20 yards to the other side of the field, then sent an arching ball beautifully to a fellow sophomore Avery Taft, who got a shot off on the first touch. The low, driving shot hit the back of the net.

“I’m really proud of our team. This was a tough game with lots of mental and physical challenges. We have a lot of talent and have created strong bonds on and off the field,” Sandefer said. “Moving forward, we hope to continue working hard and hopefully have the opportunity to play in State this year.”

Both teams would continue to battle, and the game would eventually lead to extra time. At the end of the night, it was a 1-1 draw.

“I think there was a lot of tension when we played Farmington because we tied them last time and, of course, we wanted to come out with a win. I think we played hard but always could have played better, going into the next game and the rest of the season we are going to come in hard because we are trying to secure a place for state,” said Storm captain Angeline Montoya, who wasn’t playing this game due to injury.

A nice rivalry is beginning to form between Farmington-Cleveland. In the past couple of seasons, both teams have won once, and they have tied twice.

Cleveland will begin its final three-game stretch against Piedra Vista (12-5) at home Saturday. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m.

“This Saturday will be my first game back after sitting out because of an injury, and I’m excited to be playing with my team again and seeing what we can accomplish,” Montoya said.