Boys soccer stuck in scoring drought

So far this season, the Taos Tigers (1-6-1) have done a fair job of denying opposing teams of scoring goals, with 17 goals allowed (the Artesia Bulldogs who are ranked 24th in the state have allowed 19 and are ranked 8th in 4A). The Tigers offense is stuck in a rut, with only three goals scored. There aren’t many teams in class 4A and 5A with three or fewer goals. The Manzano Monarchs have the same number of goals scored, and only the Gallup Bengals have fewer — with zero goals this season.

Tuesday’s (Sept. 20) non-conference home game against the Pagosa Springs Pirates was canceled in light of the stabbing of a cross country runner in the Taos High School parking lot on Monday (Sept. 19). As of press time, there is no update on whether or not the interstate match will take place at a later date.

On Saturday (Sept. 17), a match between the Taos Tigers and the Bloomfield Bobcats was an even game undone by costly errors in the box. The first penalty was egregious by the Taos defense, knocking down a Bobcat forward on the far side of the box and away from goal. Bloomfield got the early lead and almost doubled it with another penalty — this time, a Tiger was caught for a handball violation. On the

second attempt, Xavier Duke blocked the penalty, and then stayed in front of the next shot attempt off of the ricochet leading to a shot sailing high into the sky. The rest of the game was level and Bloomfield walked off with the 1-0 lead to win it.

The St. Michael’s Horsemen galloped freely on the Eco Park pitch in Thursday’s (Sept. 15) competition against the Taos Tigers. Midfielder Trevor Erickson had plenty of time to roam in the middle of the field and pick out a pass to his teammates for the Horsemen. Erickson scored a double in the game (bringing Erickson up to 16 goals for the season), while midfielder Elijah Gutierrez added one of his own to the tally.

Up by three goals in the second half, St. Michael’s dominated possession and explored different avenues for scoring another goal, but the defense of Taos held firm. Defender Jeremiah Gonzales received a booking from the umpire for his scrappy defending during a set piece of St. Michael’s. Taos broke through on the left flank at one point in the game, but the Horsemen’s goalkeeper read the play and got out in front to stop the ball.