The Lady Bulldog soccer team was looking to be competitive Tuesday at the Mack Chase Athletic Complex in their lone meeting of the season with Class 6A Carlsbad. Unfortunately, the Cavegirls’ experience proved too much for Artesia.
Carlsbad used its skilled passing game to dominate possession in the contest, holding the Lady ‘Dogs to just two first-half shots on goal in the bout. The Cavegirls, meanwhile, launched 31 at the Artesia net, with keeper Jacque Govea and the Lady Bulldog defense able to handle all but five.
Carlsbad picked up its first goal eight minutes in and tacked on a second just three minutes later. A shot at the 12:10 mark made it 3-0 at the break.
That was by no means an insurmountable deficit, and the Lady ‘Dogs stepped up in the second 40 minutes to better hold the Cavegirls at bay. But as the clock fell under 10 minutes, Carlsbad logged a fourth goal, and their fifth and final came with around a minute to go.
The loss dropped Artesia to 6-4 on the season, but the Lady Bulldogs will have a chance to put another notch in their win column prior to the start of District 4-AAAAA play.
Artesia will have a 10-day layoff before heading to Ruidoso Saturday, Oct. 1, for a 3 p.m. game against the Lady Warriors, whom they topped 5-1 Aug. 30 in Artesia. The Lady ‘Dogs will then return home Oct. 4 for their D4 opener against Lovington.
