Katie Hopkins skies the ball of a header in the first half. Photo by John McHale/ladailypost.com
Vianey Terrazas blocks a ball from a Charger player in the first half. Photo by John McHale/ladailypost.com By RJ Montaño
Los Alamos Daily Post
rjmontano@ladailypost.com
The match didn’t end the way the Los Alamos Hilltopper girls’ soccer team hoped it would in a 3-0 loss to the Albuquerque Academy Chargers, but facing such a high quality team this late in the season is a good measuring stick to see what needs to be improved before the playoffs.
“The great thing about high school soccer is the only thing that matters is the playoffs. So all these things we’re doing here are going to make us stronger when the time comes,” Head Coach Ann Cernicek said.
The ‘Toppers would come out as the aggressors in the district 2-5A match, controlling the tempo and ball for the majority of the first half.
Chargers forward Eliza Mariner put Academy ahead in the 18th minute with a goal off a corner kick that snuck by ‘Topper Ashley Atencio that led to a 1-0 halftime score.
The second half opened much like the first, with Los Alamos playing the aggressor and Academy falling back and making runs when opportunities opened, which was how the Chargers scored their second half goal. Mariner found herself with an open lane off of a ‘Topper rebound to scoot one passed a diving Atencio for the 2-0 lead. Atencio made 15 saves on the night.
Charger Megan Martin connected on a Hail Mary kick that would land just behind Atencio for the third goal in the last minute of play.
“It’s frustrating because I thought we played a good game today, we had some good rhythm, and I wish we would have converted on some of the opportunities we had tonight,”said Cernicek, whose ‘Topper team failed to convert on nine shots on goal.
The ‘Toppers return to action on Thursday for the last home match of the season. It’s a great chance to show up and support an incredibly athletic team on Senior Night. “We’d love a big crowd for Senior Night, it’s hard to believe that it’s game number 20. That’s a lot of games for a high school team in a compressed amount of time. But we have a lot of things we have to improve on these next few days and see if we can execute those against Capital,” Cernicek said.
Alyssa Parker tries to get a foot on the ball in front of the Charger goal. Photo by John McHale/ladailypost.com
Alissia Haagenstad tries to block a scoring attempt but the goalie, Ashley Atencio, had to finish the save. Photo by John McHale/ladailypost.com 
Alyssa Parker makes a serious scoring attempt in the first half. Photo by John McHale/ladailypost.com
With Perla Terrazas on the ground, Vianey Terrazas and Valarie Li take over the action. Photo by John McHale/ladailypost.com