Kelly Angerosa didn't know what number she was wearing Wednesday afternoon.

All she knew was it wasn't her usual number, 10, which she had somehow managed to misplace. (Hey, cut her some slack; she's only a sophomore.)

"I had 10 since I was 4," Angerosa said after the game, and after peering over her left shoulder to try to see what number she was wearing. Although she "lost her shirt," as coach Uwe Balzis said, her team didn't lose the game, a 3-0 whitewashing of visiting West Mesa Wednesday evening. It was the Rams' sixth shutout of the season.

West Mesa (10-4, 2-2) and its boisterous fans thought their Mustangs had taken a 1-0 lead in the 34th minute, but an official ruled the ball that had gotten behind Rams goalkeeper Sadie Mele had caromed off the football goalpost crossbar and then into the goal. That kept the game and gave Mele a goalie kick.

With just more than a minute remaining in the first half, Courtney Solwick got the ball on a rebound off Mustangs goalkeeper Faith Smith and booted it over Smith's head for a 1-0 Rams lead. It was Solwick's first goal of the season.

It turned out to be the only goal the Rams would need.

In the 61st minute, Klarissa Ames broke into the clear, past a pair of Mustangs defenders, deked Smith and fired a shot into the goal for the Rams' second goal. It was her first goal since Sept. 15, when she tallied a hat trick at Santa Fe; she remains the team's scoring leader with six goals, one more than Angerosa.

Angerosa scored her third goal in the team's last four games when she lofted a ball from about 25 yards out that beat Smith. That came in the 76th minute and closed out the scoring.

"We needed to win this game," Balzis said.

"I was a little but disappointed with the first half because we couldn't get anything done; I don't even think we had a good shot on goal," he said. "They really tied up the back, with five or six defenders. Then, in the second half, they got a little bit tired and we were able to create some more space and put some more balls in the box and did some good finishing, especially Klarissa. ... She had a good game, especially in the first half. That's what we need from her; she was our leading goal-scorer last year and she still has to find ways back to be the player to put it in the net.

"The problem with West Mesa is they know that they cannot play an open game with us. so they bring their best players in the back and try not to give us any space," he explained. "You try to break it open on the outside, but we're not coming through, not even on the outside. There's very little you can do.

"And then, our forwards, they were just standing around at times."

Balzis said his halftime talk may have helped spark his team to the improved second half.

"We need to spread the ball wide and try to feed (our forwards) on the weak side," he said, "and then create plays in the box."

The Mustangs, Balzis noted, have improved noticeably since last season, when the Rams beat them 5-0, 4-0 and 3-2 in overtime, and drastically since 11-0 and 10-0 Rams wins in 2004.

It wasn't that long ago that the Mustangs didn't even have enough players to finish a season (2001) and had to forfeit their final few games. In 2002 and 2003, the Rams each of their four meetings by the score of 10-0.

Now, however, Balzis said, "They have a bunch of players who play on a very good club team and actually won the state cup with coach Shepard (Rams' boys coach). He's coaching three or four of those girls in the club program and they're pretty good players," he added.

Headers: This is the third year in a row the Rams have been 9-4 after 13 games; they were 5-0 in district games in 2004 at this stage, 3-1 last year.

... The Rams, who were at Gallup Saturday, play 4:30 games at the soccer complex Tuesday against Cibola and Friday against West Mesa.

... The University of New Mexico women's soccer team defeated St. Mary's, 3-1, last Friday night, with former Rams standout Bridgette Sanchez tallying the winning goal. It was the second goal of the season for Sanchez, a senior.

... Speaking of former Rams, one of Sanchez's teammates at RRHS, Kara Henderson, notched her third goal of the season for Eastern New Mexico University on Sunday in the Zias' 3-1 loss to the College of the Southwest in Hobbs. ENMU dropped to 6-6-1 after the loss, while CSW remained perfect after nine games. Henderson is a senior forward for ENMU.

... In the other 1-5A game played Wednesday, second-place Cibola (11-3, 3-1) battered visiting Gallup, 9-0.

... The Rams girls were ranked seventh this week at www.nmsoccer.com. Defending 5A champ Las Cruces is No. 1; Cibola is No. 6.