ALBUQUERQUE — St. Michael's High School girls soccer head coach Ed Velie said Friday that he hates 2-0 leads.

This bears explanation.

"If you get scored on, it seems like the other team has the momentum, like maybe they have the edge," he explained.

Velie's Lady Horsemen took a 2-0 lead into halftime and ultimately were able to hold off Bosque School 3-2 in the Class A-AAA Girls State Soccer Tournament semifinals at the APS Soccer Complex.

The Lady Bobcats made the match an interesting one, scoring five minutes into the second half and keeping up the pressure through the second 40 minutes to put St. Michael's sizable throng of vociferous supporters on edge.

But not the Lady Horsemen themselves.

"We knew they'd come on strong in the second half, and they got some pressure," said junior goalkeeper Sally Feldewert. "We didn't get nervous when they scored their first goal. Our defense was spectacular."

The Lady Horsemen (15-7) used a solid defensive performance to thwart the Lady Bobcats, capitalizing on three errors to score three times and unseat the defending state champions.

Second-seeded St. Michael's moves into today's 10 a.m. championship against top-seed Sandia Prep of Albuquerque, which was a 2-0 winner over district rival Albuquerque Hope Christian on Friday morning.

A win would give the Lady Horsemen their second state title in three years and the school's third blue trophy overall. It also marks the fourth time the two schools have met in the championship. The Lady Sun Devils beat St. Michael's in 2004 and 2006. The Lady Horsemen won their most recent match-up in 2007.

The challenge is obvious for St. Michael's, said junior midfielder Liana Coppola.

"They're the best team in the tournament," she said. "It's great for us to match up against them. We feel like we can play our game and stay with them."

Sandia Prep defeated St. Michael's in September — the Lady Horsemen's only loss to a A-AAA team this season. But the Lady Horsemen played the match without Feldewert, who sat with a concussion, and with offensive spark plug Jamie Palermo in goal instead of at forward.

This time the Lady Sun Devils will be short two offensive threats as seniors Melina Toman and Margaret Stebbins are out with injuries.

Feldewert said defense will be key today as Sandia Prep has plenty of offensive threats, particularly senior Hannah Dahl.

"She's very good in the air on corners, so we'll have to mark her pretty close," Feldewert said. "They can score, so it's going to have to be a team effort on defense."

On Friday, said defense was on display early, as the first 20 minutes against Bosque were sluggish. St. Michael's changed that by striking for two goals in a two-minute period midway through the first half.

The Lady Horsemen broke free in the 20th when Coppola tapped in a shot off a redirect on a long pass from midfield, completely bamboozling Bobcats goalkeeper Krystal Melendez.

Midfielder Rachel Saladen added a goal for St. Michael's in the 22nd minute when she took a pass from the right flank from forward Derrian Medina and slapped in a diagonal shot that caught Melendez out of position.

"We were playing well, we were just building to it," said Coppola of the team's slow start. "We knew it was coming. We just needed to work to it."

Bosque's Samantha Sheppard scored in the 45th minute and again in the 79th minute to keep the Lady Bobcats in it.

But Palermo sealed the win for the Lady Horsemen in the 54th when she blasted in a direct kick from just beyond the top right corner of the 18-yard box for the winner.

As for today, Velie said it's the match the Lady Horsemen have looked forward to all year.

"The girls have said all year that they really want to win the state championship. They've been thinking about that since they go knocked out of the semifinals last year, by (Bosque)," he said. "I never said anything more than 'Let's get to the championship game and see if we can win it.' But the girls only talked about a state championship."

For photos from Friday’s state soccer tournament matches, go to http://tinyurl.com/yfezlql

State Soccer Tournament
APS Soccer Complex, today
Girls
Class A-AAA
Championship
St. Michael’s vs. Albuquerque Sandia Prep, 10 a.m.
Class AAAA
Championship
Los Alamos vs. Albuquerque Academy, 6 p.m.
Boys
Class AAAA
Championship
Los Alamos vs. Farmington, 11 a.m.