Diné quartet trying to help La Cueva girls soccer to 18th state title

By Quentin Jodie
Navajo Times

ALBUQUERQUE – Longtime La Cueva girls soccer coach Amber Ashcraft recalled a game when junior Sadie Ramos and seniors Hayden Sopko and Kadyn Begay all played a key role in the Lady Bears’ 3-1 win over Albuquerque High.

According to MaxPreps.com, Ramos and Sopko kicked in a goal each while Begay was credited for two assists during that season opener on Aug. 19. After that triumph, Ashcraft says, one of the mom’s pointed out that the game was won by an all-Navajo production.

“She was so excited by that, and she was like, all the Navajos did it,” Ashcraft said.

On Sept. 17, the Bears added Sadie’s younger sister, Riley “BMO” Ramos, to the varsity team and the Diné foursome has helped La Cueva to a 17-4 record heading into Tuesday’s New Mexico Class 5A state semifinal game with archrival Eldorado, which is scheduled for 2 p.m. The Bears shutout No. 6 Las Cruces Organ Mountain 2-0 in Friday’s quarterfinal game.

“It’s amazing and unusual thing to have four girls with Navajo descent to be from La Cueva,” Ashcraft said. “It’s something special that I’ve not seen at La Cueva ever, and I’ve been there 29 years and so it’s really neat.

“Sadie is actually the second leading scorer and Kadyn is our first leading scorer,” she added. “I think Riley and Hayden are tied for five goals each.”

As New Mexico’s premiere girls’ soccer program, the Bears have played in 26 state title games, having won 17 state crowns.

“I think when girls are young, they see what we’ve done and they kind of want to be part of something greater than themselves, and that’s what sports is all about,” said Ashcraft while noting that the success of the program is two-fold.

“I think it’s kind of the way I run the program,” she said. “I played on the state championship team (in the early 90s) and I started coaching right after that. I’ve been able to see it from its ground roots and I have taken a lot of the traditions that we had when I played at La Cueva all the way through to some of the stuff that we do today.”

The second aspect of their success, Ashcraft says, involves the players’ attitude and outlook of the program.

“These players and these girls are coming into a program with a rich tradition,” she said. “They want to keep the tradition alive, so they work their hardest to do that.”

Sopko, who has roots from the Tohatchi area, agreed as the third-year varsity player has played in two state championship games, including last year’s state championship team.

“There’s a standard that’s been set, so the end goal every year is to be the state champ,” the senior midfielder said. “The focus for this season has been being the two-time state champs. We went through my sophomore year losing in the state finals, so I know what losing and winning is like, but I think this is one of the strongest La Cueva team we’ve had since I’ve been at La Cueva.”

Begay was also part of that state championship team last season, one year after she played club soccer in Arizona for her sophomore year.

“I left to mainly get a feel of what it’s like playing out of state, playing in Arizona at a high level,” Begay said. “But I knew that I wanted to come back to La Cueva because of the culture. I played my freshman year, and it was a lot of fun.”

Heading into Tuesday’s state semifinal, Begay has posted some impressive stats with 22 goals and 18 assists. Last year, she played a secondary role behind then-seniors Leah Barone, Makayla Chavez, and Sasha Lucero.

“We had a lot of great seniors last year and I always tried to help them any way I can,” Begay said. “Losing a lot of our attacking team was hard, but I was able to step up. I’m stepping up as a leader, too. I’m helping the little kids, even BMO, our eighth grader.”

Compared to last season, Begay was fourth in goals (11) and assists (7) for the La Cueva team, but she’s bumped up those numbers significantly.

“Kadyn was an amazing player last year,” Ashcraft said. “She had some really good seniors around her and so helped those seniors have massive success last year.

“And so, this year, with her being a senior the success has kind of gone to her,” she added. “She played just as well last year. This year she’s been able to finish and score those 22 goals.”

The Ramos sisters are first-year varsity players with Sadie having played in 20 games this season. The siblings’ parents are Rudy and Melanie Ramos. Their dad is from San Antonio, Texas and their mom has roots from the Shiprock area.

“It was very hard,” Sadie said of making the varsity team. “I played JV last year and I had to work a little harder this year to prove that I can make varsity. During tryouts I had to show the coaches that I can keep up.”

As the second leading scorer, Sadie has recorded eight goals and six assists this season, playing the wing position.

“They just need me to be fast and get to the ball so that I can cross it the best I can,” Sadie said of her role.

The elder sibling said it’s been a blessing to be playing with her younger sister BMO, who joined the varsity team midseason.

“I’m very happy that she’s playing up because she has a lot of skills,” Sadie said of Riley. “She’s finally getting noticed. She’s getting noticed by college teams and other club teams, so she’s starting to stand out.”

Ashcraft concurred, while adding that BMO is the first player in the school’s history to be playing varsity as an eighth grader.

“She’s an outstanding player, and she’s been with us for 13 games, and she has five goals so that’s pretty amazing for an eighth grader,” the La Cueva coach said of Riley.

Riley, who attends Desert Ridge Middle School, didn’t expect to make the varsity team as an eighth grader, but she worked her way through the ranks as a member of the La Cueva JV team before she was called up.

“I definitely wanted to make varsity as soon as we went through ‘Hell Week’ and the tryouts,” Riley said. “I had to work really hard on JV because I knew that I was really good, and I deserved to be on varsity.”

And although she was nervous at first, Riley acknowledged that she became more comfortable playing with her older counterparts.

“I was allowed to play with older girls in club, so I’m used to play with them,” Riley said. “I felt like I really showed my skills in my first (varsity) game. Since then, I’ve scored five goals, so I think I earned my spot.”

Should the Bears get by Eldorado on Tuesday, La Cueva will play the winner of the top-seeded Volcano Vista and No. 4 Rio Rancho Friday at 6 p.m. at the UNM Soccer Complex in Albuquerque for the 5A championship game.

Get instant access to this story by purchasing one of our many e-edition subscriptions HERE at our Navajo Times Store.

 

---