SANTA ANA PUEBLO -- For nine seniors on the Moriarty High girls team, Friday's season finale at the State Farm Insurance Soccer Complex was a nice way to end their careers.

And for one junior, it was a nice way to start it.

Regular goalkeeper Megan Bond, a senior, was injured in the Lady Pintos' loss to fourth-seeded St. Pius on Oct. 30, the opening day of World Cup-format pool play at the state Class 4A soccer tournament. So junior Rheanna Smith, who had not recorded a minute of varsity experience between the pipes, got the nod.

All Smith did, with the liberal help of her teammates, was toss a 2-0 shutout over No. 5 Farmington High to help ninth-seeded Moriarty garner a concluding 9-12 overall record.

"She did an excellent job," Pinto coach Craig Nixon said. "She stood up to it pretty well. It's just her second year of playing soccer in her life, and she stepped up and did the job."

After losing the opener, the win was a good one for the program, he said.

"I told them, let's go out and have the seniors go out on a positive note," Nixon said. "They played well."

Senior Melanie Armijo scored twice for Moriarty, the first in the 32nd minute off an assist from senior Desireé Godinez. The second came in the final minute after a Savannah Baros corner kick.

"Melanie played like a 6-footer and went up and headed it in," Nixon said. "It went into the upper-V. It was a great goal."

Armijo was moved to forward after other strikers went down with injuries. She finished with 11 goals.

"She did a great job for us," Nixon said. "That's the most goals we've had in a quite a while."

With seven seniors starting, the team will face quite a rebuilding project next year.

"Right down the middle, we're losing the core defenders," Nixon said.

But Smith has already showed she's ready for prime time. And sophomore Sidney Jones has showed she's capable of running the defense.

"I think we're going to be okay," Nixon said. "We had a lot of sophomores who can play."

St. Pius 7, Moriarty 0

The Lady Pintos' season essentially ended in the 44th minute of their game against St. Pius.

Down 3-0 to the reigning state champion Sartans, Armijo stepped into the box for a penalty kick. Uncharacteristically, her boot sailed wide left.

Armijo turned after the shot. Then, in dismay, covered her face with both hands.

"It kind of deflated us," Nixon said. "Those are usually a given for Melanie."

Moriarty's Chantel Davidson felt the turning point came even earlier.

"It was after that second goal (in the 40th minute)," said Davidson, a senior forward. "We just gave up …"

The Sartans handed the Pintos, who trailed 1-0 at the half, their worst defeat of the season.

"In the second half, I was thinking, 'Who should I put in there to stop the bleeding?'" Nixon said. "Defensively, we were getting beat. But I had the best 11 players in there with some good subs. St. Pius is just a good team. They didn't have a good (regular) season by their standards. But they still are very good."

Moriarty had few opportunities. Baros' corner kick in the 33rd minute zipped behind the goal.

The Pintos were tagged for offsides during two separate 30-yard free kicks. Sophomore Nikki Eaton took three long-range shots but couldn't connect.

Moriarty lost much of its offensive punch after injuries in earlier games relegated speedy senior forwards Molly LaRue and Jayci Manning to permanent bench status.

"We had seniors, sophomores and a couple of eighth-graders," Nixon said. "The juniors we do have are essentially first-year players. But they all did a good job."