Lady Horsemen's defense, scoring duo make bid to repeat as state champions
Oct. 24—There is no such thing as rebuilding at St. Michael's.
Only retooling, especially when you're the defending Class 1A-3A girls soccer team.
For a team that lost only three seniors from last year's state championship squad and is junior and sophomore heavy, the beginning of the season did not feel like the continuation of April's Class 1A-3A blue-trophy run. The first few weeks were more a "getting to know you" phase and the result was an uncontender-like 2-2 start.
Even more uncharacteristic was a 4-0 loss to 5A school Santa Fe High, which was the first time the Demons did that in 24 years. But the chemistry that blossomed during the shortened spring season slowly bloomed again, and the Lady Horsemen are right back in the thick of things in 1A-3A.
"It's been a year of building chemistry," sophomore forward Grace Sandoval said. "The bonding and building that chemistry has not been the easiest, but I'm proud of how we're coming along."
St. Michael's won 11 of its last 13 matches and went undefeated, if not unchallenged, in District 2 1A-3A play with an 8-0 record. That run will secure no worse than a third seed for the state tournament, which begins for all three classes next week.
In the spring, the Lady Horsemen were led by a three-pronged scoring attack and a stingy defense that allowed just two goals in nine matches. This fall, the attack is highlighted by Sandoval and junior Elsa Ranney-Smith, who have combined to score 44 goals. However, the Lady Horsemen feel they are more than just the sum of two forwards.
Ranney-Smith said practices are designed to improve every players' skills, then incorporate that in games. She added, unselfishness is crucial for the St. Michael's system to be effective.
"One of the things we're really focused on is hitting every player, not just before we score, but in trying to pass and move as much as we can," Ranney-Smith said. "It's really something we're trying to work on every day."
There is some merit to that assertion: Six players have at least four goals, and the Lady Horsemen have 58 assists on their 86 goals. In their district-clinching 5-0 win over Las Vegas Robertson on Friday, four players found the back of the net as they dominated possession and managed 10 shots on goal and another dozen that were around the net.
"We push ourselves in practice so much every day to get better," said sophomore midfielder Jada Lujan, who is among the group of six with five goals. "That we're able to execute that on the field is just amazing."
The only challenge for St. Michael's at times is an overly enthusiastic zeal for scoring. Accuracy has been a problem, and Ranney-Smith said it's just a matter of slowing their feet to be in sync with their minds.
"The mind is a little ahead of the feet sometimes," Ranney-Smith said. "It's just a matter of just taking a little breath out there before you shoot."
Lady Horsemen head coach Alfonso Camarena said the depth of offensive firepower extends even to his defenders in the back line. He added, there are times when the team can use its back line on the offensive half of the field, mainly because so many opponents take a defensive approach when playing St. Michael's.
"We try to open the field to the wings and we feel good about it," Camarena said. "If other teams don't want to attack, we're going to take the initiative."
While the offense is sometimes hit and miss, the defense has been a constant. The Lady Horsemen have allowed 12 goals on the season, with 10 of their wins by shutout. Aside from the season-opening loss, the most goals St. Michael's has allowed is two to Albuquerque Sandia Prep and Los Alamos — both of them 2-1 losses. Its four losses have come against teams that are a combined 65-12-1 and likely top-four seeds in their respective classes.
The down side to that is the Lady Horsemen will likely find themselves seeded behind the Lady Sundevils and Socorro, which downed St. Michael's 1-0 in September. Camarena said seeding doesn't really matter to him; the Lady Horsemen will likely have to beat those two teams at some point in order to repeat as state champions.
"If you want to be a champion, you have to play whoever they put in front of you," Camarena said. "We're fine with that and we're happy. I mean, we've been playing soccer practically the entire year."
And playing into November is a yearly practice at St. Michael's.
