Portales drops first district matches against St. Mike's

Welcome to New Mexico District 2-(1A-3A) soccer Portales.

St. Michael’s High School dispatched two welcoming parties to Portales Saturday to initiate Portales soccer to their new district, and the boys and girls in blue didn’t pull any punches, beating the Portales girls 9-0 and the Portales boys 10-0 in a mercy rule shortened game.

Both Portales teams quickly fell far behind St. Mike’s early in the first half, and the Horsemen and Lady Horsemen added to their leads in the second half.

“We competed,” Lady Ram head soccer coach Traci Sievers said. “(We) were doing some things well.”

Eighth-grader goalkeeper Tayler Hammack was tested early and often by the Lady Horsemen and despite the final score, Sievers said that Hammack showed some good things.

“Our goalie had a lot of saves,” Sievers said. “She played well. She was coming off her line well and doing some good things.”

Sievers also pointed out that her girls need to win more 50/50 balls at midfield.

“(This game) showed us what we have to work on,” Sievers said.

The Rams had their work cut out for them as well, as St. Michael’s has appeared in the New Mexico Class 1-3A state championship game in four of the last seven years, including four consecutive years.

St. Mike’s built their lead to 10 goals early in the second half, triggering the mercy rule and the end of the game.

“We have to learn that we have to start playing right from the very beginning with intensity,” first-year Ram coach Jonathan Smith said. “I’m competitive — I want to win every time we go out there, but more than anything, I want our guys to compete.”

This is just Portales’ second year competing in soccer, since the re-start of the program last year. The New Mexico Activities Association didn’t do the Rams and Lady Rams any favors when they placed them in District 2.

In addition to St. Michael’s, other schools in Portales’ district are Desert Academy, Monte Del Sol, Santa Fe Prep and Santa Fe Waldorf.

Four of the teams in the Lady Rams’ district have won the New Mexico Class 1-3A state championship in the last seven years.

The Rams and Lady Rams take a break from their district schedule as they travel to Las Vegas, NM to face Robertson Tuesday.

“Our youthfulness showed today I think,” Sievers said. “But we did show some good things that we can build on for the future.”