NM boys soccer playoffs
Rehoboth Christian advances with 5-3 win
Navajo Times | Sharon Chischilly
Rehoboth Christian senior forward Thijs Meester (9) attempts a shot on goal against the West Las Vegas Dons in the opening round of the New Mexico Class A-3A state boys soccer playoffs on Wednesday afternoon at Rehoboth Christian School. The Lynx advanced with a 5-3 win.
REHOBOTH, N.M.
The Rehoboth Christian boys soccer team carried a 2-0 lead at the half against the West Las Vegas Dons in the opening round of the New Mexico Class A-3A playoffs Wednesday afternoon.
Navajo Times | Sharon Chischilly
Rehoboth Christian Lynx Isaiah Saltwater (3) goes after the ball during Wednesday’s New Mexico Class A-3A boys soccer playoffs against the West Las Vegas Dons. Rehoboth won, 3-1.
In the second half, the seventh-seeded Lynx (13-6-1) experienced a slight hiccup but managed to hold off the Dons 5-3 to advance to Friday’s quarterfinals against No. 2 seed Santa Fe Prep.
“It was a story of two halves,” Rehoboth coach Philip Frederiksen said. “We had a very good first half where we were up 2-0, and we controlled the ball. We were playing with confidence, and we played well.”
The complexion of the game, however, changed in the second half as both teams were in a back-and-forth affair, with West Las Vegas scoring three goals.
“There was a lot of goals scored in both directions and credit to West Las Vegas,” Frederiksen said. “This was our first time playing them and they worked really hard. They fought their way back into the game.”
In other playoff action, the Miyamura Patriots and Bloomfield Bobcats came up short Wednesday in the Class 4A bracket. No. 13 Bloomfield lost 6-1 at fourth-seeded Chaparral, while the 10th-seeded Patriots fell 2-1 to No. 7 Albuquerque Manzano.
In 5A, Piedra Vista traveled to No. 6 Rio Grande, where the Panthers dropped a 2-0 decision to the Albuquerque school.
At Rehoboth, Frederiksen credited senior Thijs Meester and freshman Lucas Frederiksen for stepping up as the two forwards applied pressure that helped create scoring opportunities.
“They were both pressuring the ball up top, which allowed us to convert some opportunities into goals,” the Rehoboth coach said.
In the opening half, Lucas Frederiksen provided a spark for the Lynx as he netted two goals.
“He got things going for us,” Frederiksen said of his son.
In the second half, the Lynx received goals from juniors Brighten Thompson, Isaiah Saltwater and Simon Frederiksen to complete Rehoboth’s scoring.
Navajo Times | Sharon Chischilly
Rehoboth Christian junior Simon Frederiksen (10) battles West Las Vegas player Ethan Davis (4) for possession of the ball during Wednesday’s New Mexico Class A-3A state boys soccer playoffs. The Lynx advanced with a 5-3 win.
West Las Vegas, meanwhile, got goals from sophomore Mateo Probst and seniors Santiago Sanchez and Zeb Montano as the Dons finished their season at 10-10-1 overall.
The Lynx will now turn their focus to Santa Fe Prep as the second-seeded Griffins sport an 18-1 record. The quarterfinal matchup is scheduled for Friday in Santa Fe.
“They’re another team we haven’t played all season, so we’re going off of what we can glean from MaxPreps,” Frederiksen said. “They’re another strong team. I know they play good possession soccer, so that’s going to be tough. We’re going to have to do a lot of chasing and working to get the ball away from them.”
Santa Fe Prep is led by junior forward Dylan Shandler, who leads the state in points, regardless of classification, with 102 points and 44 goals.
“He has a good team around him, and it takes a good team to make a person shine like that,” Frederiksen said. “It’s going to be a matter of us getting a hold of him and seeing if we can dictate the game instead of us chasing the game.”
Readers can support Navajo Times journalism with an e-Edition subscription, available through our Navajo Times Store.
Highway 264,
I-40, WB @ Winslow