Prep roundup: St. Michael’s takes fifth in Farmington

| The New Mexican

8/23/2008 - 8/24/08

It took roughly 24 hours and two on-field adjustments, but St. Michael's found what it was looking for at the Farmington Cup girls soccer tournament on Saturday in Farmington.

After falling 3-2 to Aztec in a quarterfinal, the Lady Horsemen rebounded with a pair of wins in the consolation bracket: 4-0 over Piedra Vista and 5-1 over Santa Fe Preparatory to claim fifth place.

"Now I can say we have a good team," said St. Michael's head coach Ed Velie. "I didn't really know before we got here."

Velie moved Michelle Bustamante from the midfield to forward and that sparked an offensive onslaught. The Lady Horsemen (2-1) scored four goals in the span of 33 minutes in the second half against Piedra Vista. Bustamante scored two and assisted on the two others. Caitlin Smith also scored as did Jaime Palermo.

Palermo and Bustamante were just getting warmed up. They added two goals a piece against the Blue Griffins. St. Michael's led 3-0 at the half.

"We were not in it the first half," Prep head coach Rennae Ross said. "We weren't going to the ball, we weren't doing the things we are supposed to do.

"We were better in the second half."

Prep (1-2) finished sixth in the eight-team event.

In other tournament play:

Santa Fe Preparatory 2, Gallup 0

The Blue Griffins got goals from unlikely sources against the Lady Bengals in an early match.

Eighth-grader Allison Stertzer scored in the opening minutes to give Prep a 1-0 lead at the break. Sarah Simis came out of goal in the second half and netted the insurance score.

"It was great that players we brought from JV really played beyond their means," Ross said. "We came away 1-2 that's better than last year."

The Blue Griffins were last at the event in 2007.

VOLLEYBALL

McCurdy 3, Santa Fe Preparatory 2

It wasn't a win, but it wasn't a disappointment. The Blue Griffins went serve-for-serve with the Lady Bobcats before falling, 21-25, 25-20, 25-15, 21-25, 15-13 in Memorial Gymnasium in the season-opener for both teams.

"I was really proud of our girls; we have a lot of new faces in crucial positions," said Chris Chakeres, who is one of those faces in his first season as head coach. "It was a nice way to open the season."

"It was a good match," said McCurdy head coach Steve Long. "The girls did a good job of staying with it and pulling it out."