Socorro girls fall at state tourney

By John Severance
ALBUQUERQUE -- Socorro girls soccer coach Mitch Carrejo gathered his team after the Lady Warriors fell 5-1 to Hope Christian Nov. 5 in the quarterfinals of the state championships.
And understandably, it was a quiet bunch.
Hope Christian stunned Socorro with the first of three goals by Devin Hart just four minutes in when she blasted a shot that found the back of the net.
“After we gave away that breakaway, we walked through the rest of the half,” Carrejo said. “We had not given up a goal in so long and then we allowed an easy one and it kind of shellshocked us.”
Hope Christian could not be stopped. And by the 30-minute mark, Socorro trailed 5-0.
“We weren’t aggressive,” Carrejo said. “We were a different team out there. We didn‘t come to play.”
The Lady Warriors came into the game having not given up a goal in their previous five games and only given up 21 goals the entire season.
But Socorro had no answer when the floodgates opened.
Socorro was playing on the artificial turf for the second time this season and Hope Christian took advantage of the wind to pounce on the Warriors.
“I don’t think it was the field,“ Carrejo said. “… We had a game like that against Bloomfield (4-0 loss). We just weren’t aggressive.
To Socorro’s credit, it did not give up.
The Lady Warriors got the wind in the second half and they held Hope Christian scoreless. Socorro avoided a shutout when Janell Lopez scored with about 10 minutes left.
“We played better in the second half but we were already down five goals,” Carrejo said.
The Lady Warriors set a record for most wins in a season and they will lose eight seniors. Back for Socorro, though, will be Dezare Armijo, who totaled 44 goals last season.
“We had a good year and unfortunately it ended with a loss,” Carrejo said. “All teams end their season with a loss except for the champion. We just have to learn from this.”

Socorro girls fall at state tourney