Scorps fall to Capital 3-1, turn focus to state

FARMINGTON — The Farmington boys soccer team made a few mental mistakes that resulted in three Capital goals that lifted the Jaguars (14-3-1) past the Scorps 3-1 today in Santa Fe.

“We really shot ourselves in the foot tonight, to be completely honest. We had three mental lapses that allowed the three very simple goals,” Farmington coach Byron Farnsworth said. “Those mental lapses were really what let in the three goals.”

Joey Rodriguez scored the lone goal for the Scorps (11-8-1).

Farnsworth said the team had plenty of chances to score, but fired almost every shot directly at Capital’s keeper.

Even though Scorps couldn’t find a way to win, Farnsworth said the match should provide a confidence boost for the team heading into the state tournament next week.

“We have two guys who normally start for us on the backline that will get cleared to play on Monday, so we asked some younger guys to step up and gain some experience,” Farnsworth said. “Aside from those three mental mistakes, we feel like we went toe to toe with (Capital). If we clean those three errors up and capitalize on offense to put some shots in the back of the net, I think we’re right there.”

After winning their 11th consecutive district title, the Scorps are guaranteed a spot in the 5A state tournament. Farnsworth said he and the team have no idea what seed they’ll receive.

“It’s really hard because you have all the teams from down south that don’t come up here to play games. They have great records, but they haven’t really played any of the top teams,” Farnsworth said. “I know MaxPreps has us at No. 11, but we won our district and went toe to toe with all the top teams in the state. We obviously won’t get a top four (seed), and we could be anywhere from a five (seed) to a 12 (seed) for all I know.”

Karl Schneider is the sports editor for The Daily Times. He can be reached at 505-564-4648.