SPORTS News:After a strong opening game Friday of the Louie Cernicek Memorial Tournament against Aztec, the Los Alamos High School Boys Varsity Soccer team advanced to play in a nail-biting semi-final match against the Valencia Jaguars, early Saturday morning.
The Toppers dictated the tempo of the game in the 1st half, keeping the Jaguars from registering a single shot on goal. Los Alamos Junior Tristan Semelsberger playing as a striker, opened the scoring after maneuvering around Valencia’s defense into a shooting position. He was assisted on the play by Senior, and Topper co-Captain, Daniel Castano.
Los Alamos would go on to have several more chances, but were unable to capitalize against a resolute Jaguar defense. Valencia started the 2nd half with great conviction, and were slowly able to create goal-scoring opportunities against the Topper defense. Valencia Junior Daniel Calderon leveled the score for the Jaguars; rewarded for the tenacious pressure he applied to the Topper backline.
While both teams had additional chances, the deadlock remained fixed as the match official blew the whistle, signaling the end of regular time. The match advanced to two 5-minute periods of overtime, one “golden” goal required to win the game for either team. The Toppers came out fired up for the 1st period of overtime, and the ball remained in their opposition’s half for most of the five minute period. Again, the Toppers were able to create solid chances, but unable to find the back of the net.
The game seemed destined for penalty kicks. Toward the beginning of the 2nd period of overtime, Topper Sophomore Jared Carnes spread the ball out wide to the onrushing Sophomore Arthur Steinkamp. Steinkamp furiously dribbled toward the opposition’s end line, then demonstrated great skill to juke the ball around his defender, cutting inside. Steinkamp continued to run with the ball at his feet, bursting into the penalty box, with his teammates rushing into the box to give him passing options. At the last moment, Steinkamp showed both composure and confidence to slam the ball into the roof of the net, past the onrushing Valencia goalkeeper, winning the match 2-1 for Los Alamos. The Topper bench rushed the field in jubilation, as Los Alamos advanced to the final to face Roswell.
The championship match of the Louie Cernicek Memorial Tournament was scheduled to kick off Saturday night at 6 p.m., but due to an intense electrical storm, the game was, unfortunately, cancelled. Thankfully, Roswell and Los Alamos were able to re-schedule this final match. Due to both teams’ demanding schedules this season, the match has been re-scheduled for 9 a.m. Friday, Sept. 23 at Sullivan Field in Los Alamos.
