Moderator's Note: It was a great day to be a Volcano Vista Hawk. Both soccer teams were victorious in the Metro Tournament. Congratulations to our student athletes and to coaches Billy Thiebaut and Samantha Lucero! Here are two articles from James Yodice of the ABQ Journal...
Volcano Vista Wins Metro Title, 2-1, Over Eldorado
Volcano Vista High School boys soccer coach Billy Thiebaut won't be able to sell this theme of rebuilding much longer.
When the Hawks began the 2012 season, they did so without five players who were first- or second-team all-state last season. Thiebaut said it would be a rebuilding year for the program.
But after a thrilling 2-1 victory Friday night over Class 5A defending state champion Eldorado to claim the Albuquerque Metro Championship title, Volcano Vista can probably readjust its thinking.
In fact, the Hawks seem to have done just that.
"It's wonderful," Thiebaut said. "These guys have just come together as a unit, and really … we expected to do this stuff and have the results we get."
Thiebaut called the victory the biggest in the history of the program.
"This is it," he said.
On a windy, chilly night at the APS Complex, the teams waited out a 45-minute weather delay.
It was a transfer from St. Pius, C.J. Slough, whose penalty-kick goal late in the match broke a 1-1 tie.
"I wanted to win it for my team," said Slough, who received special clearance from the New Mexico Activities Association to transfer to Volcano Vista because of a medical issue with a family member.
Slough left-footed his shot past Eldorado's Nate Williard, last year's first-team all-state goalkeeper in 5A.
Williard guessed one way, Slough went the other.
"I just put it where I wanted it and hoped that it goes in," Slough said.
Volcano Vista (5-0) is coming off an outstanding 2011 season. The Hawks won the District 1-5A title, although they were upset in the state quarterfinals by Cibola.
"They believe they can win," Thiebaut said. "I don't think we're Eldorado or La Cueva yet, but we're getting there."
Eldorado (4-1) won't have to wait long for a rematch. The teams meet again Tuesday.
La Cueva beat Valley 2-0 in the third-place game.
Shootout Goes to Volcano Vista
Penalty-Kick Prowess Gives Hawks Elusive Metro Title
Hope springs eternal. At least it did Friday night for the Volcano Vista girls soccer team.
Senior Hope Cruz tied the game in the second half, and she also had the deciding goal in a tense, penalty-kick shootout, as the Hawks edged La Cueva 2-1 in the final of the Albuquerque Metro Championships at the APS Soccer Complex.
"We've been in the finals the last two years, it's great to finally get it done," said the soft-spoken Cruz.
The Hawks (5-0) outscored the Bears (4-1) by a 9-7 count in the shootout, which went 9 1/2 rounds.
Each team had four goals in the first five tries, so five new shooters trotted out onto the field as a huge crowd looked on.
The seventh round was crucial.
Volcano Vista goalkeeper Jovana Canales stopped La Cueva's Jessica McDow — the second save in the shootout for Canales.
"It's my best guess," Canales said. "I just try to read the ball and hope I get it right."
Volcano Vista led 6-5 after the seventh round, 7-6 after the eighth round and 8-7 after the ninth round.
Leading off the 10th round, Cruz stepped up and beat Bears goalkeeper Sam Johnson, and that was the game.
The Hawks raced out onto the field to embrace Cruz and Canales.
"We didn't have some of our best moments, but we pulled through in the end," Volcano Vista coach Samantha Lucero said.
The Hawks were successful on nine out of 10 PKs, a number that thrilled Lucero.
"I'll take that any day," she said. "We've been practicing PKs every single day. I told them during practice, if you make your PKs, you'll win metro."
Courtney Riley of La Cueva staked her team to a 1-0 lead in the first half before Cruz answered midway through the second half.
The game pitted the two finalists from last year's 5A state championship game. They played on the same field as they did last November, a game La Cueva won 1-0.
The Canalas family had a big night.
Her younger brother, Teriq, a sophomore for the boys varsity, had one of two goals in Volcano's 2-1 win over Eldorado on an adjacent field.
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