Hilltopper bench gets starting nod Saturday morning in Bloomfield. Photo by RJ Montaño/ladailypost.com
Los Alamos Boys Soccer seniors pose for a picture Saturday after beating Bloomfield 4-0. Photo by RJ Montaño/ladailypost.com
Los Alamos Daily Post
BLOOMFIELD – The Los Alamos Hilltoppers (10-3) were able to rest the normal starters and give the bench and younger players plenty of playing time in a 4-0 win Saturday morning at Bloomfield (3-7).
With the normal starters on the bench, the ‘Toppers started slow and timid, building confidence as the match went on. Midway through the first half, starters trickled into the lineup with multiple combinations of players. The lone first half goal came in the 36th minute off an Andreas Runde 25-yard strike.
Scoring picked up midway through the second half with Arthur Steinkamp’s team-leading 17th goal of the season.
Christopher Blue would find the back of the net on a breakaway, and David Gao would connect on a 25-yard strike with under ten minutes to go to give the ‘Toppers the 4-0 win.
“The guys played great and earned the playing time by working hard,” Head Coach Ron Blue said about his bench. “This is what we wanted, we got a game where young guys got a chance to play, and our seniors got a chance to embrace it, enjoy it, and watch our young guys play.”
The Bloomfield match concluded a brutal 10 days for the Hilltoppers playing Taos at home, then in the Albuquerque Academy tournament where they lost a controversial opening game to eventual tournament champion 6A Cleveland. The ‘Toppers took down Goddard and Roswell to finish fifth last weekend.
Los Alamos also dropped a 1-0 heartbreaker at Farmington on Wednesday, outshooting the Scorpions 27-2. The ‘Toppers would make the back and forth four-hour trip to Farmington to take on Piedra Vista on Friday.
“We didn’t give up much in our two losses, and finished good,” Blue said after the match.
The ‘Toppers will get a couple days off before resuming practice Tuesday. The next match comes at 4A powerhouse Hope Christian Thursday afternoon in Albuquerque.
Piedra Vista
Andreas Runde dribbles the ball down the field in Farmington. Photo by RJ Montaño/ladailypost.com
The ball sails just over the head of the Piedra Vista Goalkeeper. Photo by RJ Montaño/ladailypost.com
FARMINGTON – It wasn’t how they drew it up, but the Hilltoppers (9-3) walked away with a 5-3 victory Friday afternoon at Piedra Vista High School (7-4).
‘Toppers Senior Tristan Semelsberger broke the seal 4 minutes into the match with a walked-in goal while the Panther defenders and Goalkeeper were watching the fancy footwork, expecting a shot.
After a barrage of fouls, Piedra Vista Freshman Goalkeeper Ben Herrera was issued a red card for taking out the feet of a ‘Topper striker far away from the net. After a missed free kick, ‘Toppers Junior Arthur Steinkamp would get fouled in the box and issued a penalty kick. Steinkamp, who has been perfect on PKs this season, would connect with his fourth of the season to make it 2-0 Los Alamos in the 35th minute.
Piedra Vista Junior Max Eisnfeld then rallied his troops, leading two quick break-away scores to tie the game at 2 apiece right before the halftime whistle. “We knew to look out for him, he had 21 goals coming into today,” Head Coach Ron Blue said after the game.
The ‘Toppers would come out with a little more finesse, but still lacked the normal aggression on offense.
Steinkamp connected on his second goal of the game and team-leading 16th goal of the season at the ten-minute mark of the second half, nailing a left footer while both teams looked confused in front of the Panther net.
Senior Andreas Runde scored off a free kick 4 minutes later, painting the top right corner of the net and putting Los Alamos up 4-2 to give the ‘Toppers some breathing room.
Down by 2 goals with under ten minutes to play, Piedra Vista played lazy defense and allowed Semelsberger to break free and score from 15 yards out, leading to the 5-2 final.
“You know, we got the win,” sighed Blue. “We played slow and got the ball caught underneath us a couple times, but we got the win. It’s been a long week, and a long first half of the season. There’s no way we can be happy with how we played, but we’re happy with the win. We’re going to have to get better.”
When asked what changes he was going to make to fire up his team, Coach Blue answered, “We’re going to start our bench. Those guys have been playing hard and putting in a lot of work.”