Cleveland senior Emmanuel Ruiz (13) is congratulated by his teammates as his second-half goal gives the Storm a 2-1 lead. (Herron photo)

 

In what head coach Greg Rusk termed a “spirited” game, his Cleveland High girls whipped visiting Atrisco Heritage Academy last Thursday evening, 7-1.

The Storm scored first-half goals by Ella Lent-Koop, Sienna Salazar, Kiran Ahluwalia and Rylie Pengelly (on a penalty kick), then padded their lead with second-half tallies by Arissa C’de Baca, Salazar and Sloane Sinnott.

The Storm peppered the Jaguars goalkeeper with 24 shots on goal.

Atrisco Heritage Academy, which is 0-10 all-time vs. the Storm – including a forfeit loss – and have never scored in the nine games contested, slipped to 4-8 overall and 0-1 in District 1-5A.

Storm 4, Los Alamos 1: Lent-Koop and Alexus Guillen scored in the first half Saturday in Los Alamos, and Salazar and Guillen tallied goals in the second half, when the Hilltoppers (2-4-2) scored their lone goal.

Again, the Storm were busy on offense, launching 18 shots on goal to one for Los Alamos, with Madison Johnson again less than busy.

To date and through 11 games, the Storm have only allowed more than one goal twice: Four in a loss to Hope Christian at metro, and two to Hobbs at the Academy Invite.

The Storm played at Rio Rancho Wednesday, Sept. 27. They’ve got three games this coming week, including two district games: CHS is at Santa Fe Monday; at Cibola (4:30 p.m.) Wednesday and at Volcano Vista Saturday (2 p.m.)

The CHS boys prepped for their Sept. 27 showdown with visiting Rio Rancho with a 3-1 win at Bosque School on Sept. 21, followed by 5-1 trouncing of visiting Santa Fe on Saturday.

Storm 3, Bosque 1: Amir Fauzi and Elijah Mclaughlin scored for the Storm, while the third goal of the game was inadvertently netted by Bosque defender on a Storm pass.

Storm 5, Santa Fe 1: A four-goal outburst in the second half paved the way for a lopsided victory over the Demons.

Emmanuel Ruiz and William McNamara scored a goal apiece, while Dominic Aguilar netted two goals for the Storm (6-3-3), including one on a penalty kick as time ran out.

The game was marred by a stoppage of play, when the referee had to ask a CHS fan to tone down his surly comments in what coach Shaun Gill termed a “fan disruption. It was one of our parents.”

Armijo took a few seconds to walk toward the bleachers and tell the fans, “We’re trying to play a game here.”

“That’s the first time, but I think with the NMAA’s ‘2 strike rule,’ and that’s one of the referees’ point of emphasis. … We’re trying to curb some of that abuse.

“We played with a lot more heart, a lot more intensity,” Gill said of the second-half offense. “We corrected a couple things, and it allowed us to put a lot more pressure on their end.”

This week the Storm meet Atrisco Heritage Academy at the APS soccer complex Saturday at 9 a.m.

Next week, reverting to a Wednesday and Saturday format, CHS hosts Cibola on Oct. 4 at 6 p.m. and is home Saturday morning at 11 to face Volcano Vista.

Rio Rancho soccer

The Rio Rancho High School girls’ team played twice last week but was unable to get the ball into the net.

First, the Rams (3-6-1) dueled visiting Los Alamos to a 100-minute scoreless draw on their annual First responders Night of Sept. 19, then were shut out 3-0 by Piedra Vista in Farmington on Sept. 21.

After a home game on Sept. 25 vs. St. Pius X, the Rams were slated to open District 1-5A action on sept. 27 vs. visiting Cleveland, then visit Volcano Vista Saturday at 2 p.m.

Next week, the Rams have just one game: Cibola visits Oct. 6 for a 6 p.m. kick.

The Rio Rancho boys’ team had plenty of time to get ready for its Sept. 27 game at Cleveland, with just one game last week.

On sept. 19, at head coach John Shepard’s alma mater, the Rams (7-2-1) scored a goal in each half for a 2-1 victory.

After their second meeting this season with the Storm, the Rams are home Saturday to meet Volcano Vista at 4:30 p.m.