Rio Rancho High School boys soccer coach John Shepard got the first-round game he was expecting.

"Settle it on the field," he said, repeating an earlier comment he'd uttered when asked about respect.

Rams girls soccer coach Uwe Balzis learned, to his dismay, that his team also had a first-round game, their 9-0 District 1-5A mark and their only losses being to respectable opponents counting for little. The eighth-seeded Rams boys (12-5), who also won all nine of their 1-5A games, and the sixth-seeded girls (15-4) played first-round games Wednesday.

If victorious - and each played a lower-seeded team at the soccer complex and each was expected to win -- both will be in action today, also at the soccer complex at Santa Ana.

Taking a look at the Rams boys:

The Rams boys, who faced ninth-seeded Carlsbad (13-6) Wednesday, will meet No. 1 and defending state champ Eldorado (16-4), which beat them in their season opener after ending their 2005 season in a state semifinal game, at 3 p.m. on field 4.

Shepard said he knew nothing about the Cavemen, and his team and Carlsbad had no common opponents this season for any type of comparison.

"But they're district (4-5A) champs so they're not going to be bad," he said.

The top six seeds in 5A boys are from two districts: No. 1 Eldorado and No. 4 Highland (14-6) are from 5-5A; No. 2 La Cueva (14-6), No. 3 Sandia (15-5) and No. 5 Albuquerque High (15-5) are from 2-5A.

The No. 6 Gadsden Panthers (13-3), the 3-5A champ, and No. 7 Las Cruces Bulldawgs (13-6) are from 3-5A.

Rounding out the dozen teams at state, after Sunday afternoon's seeding meeting, are the No. 8 Rams, Carlsbad, Hobbs (15-5), West Mesa (15-5) and Alamogordo (10-9).

"I have no idea what they did at that seeding meeting - I don't want to speculate," Shepard said. "We'll take it one game at a time. I don't know about four games in four days; strength is our fitness and depth - we're not scared. Our practices are physically more hard than game - you practice hard so the games are funner and easier. The guys are fit; fitness will not be a factor.

"We have a great bunch of young men and regardless of what happens on the field, it's been a privilege to coach them, and their parents and the community should be proud of them."

Shepard said people should take a look at the bigger picture: "We lost exactly zero players out of the program ... we pride ourselves in being disciplined. Like I said, it's a good bunch of guys."

Taking a look at the Rams girls:

The Rams girls, who battled 11th-seeded Hobbs (12-7) Wednesday, will face third-seeded Highland (16-4) at 1 p.m. on field 7. The Rams defeated the Hornets 2-1 in a semifinal game at the Academy Invite on Sept. 8; the Hornets edged the Rams 1-0 four days later at the soccer complex.

Defending state champ Las Cruces(17-1) is the No. 1 seed in the girls bracket, also decided upon Sunday. Rounding out the top five are La Cueva (15-5), the second-place team in 2-5A, Highland (16-4), Sandia (16-4), the 2-5A champ, and Eldorado (13-7).

Falling below the Rams are 3-5A champ Alamogordo (14-5), Mayfield (11-7), 4-5A champ Carlsbad (17-4), Valley (11-9), Hobbs (12-7) and West Mesa (7-13), the only team among the 5A field, boys or girls, with a losing record. The Mustangs were swept in their three meetings with the Rams, but moved from third place to runner-up status in 1-5A after Cibola forfeited three games for using an ineligible player.

"I am not happy," Balzis said after seeing the bracket. "We have like two districts who put their (champs) and runners-up ahead of us. It's a joke."

Like Shepard, he had no idea of what Hobbs would put on the pitch in the first round Wednesday.

"What bugs me a little bit is the 'pre-playoff' is one day before the playoff. That means a team that wants to go all the way has an additional game - four games in a row," he said. "I don't think that's fair to anybody who's ranked between fifth and 12th. They ranked us very disappointingly but, on the other hand, we have to prove we have to be ranked better.

"The ball is in our court. What we have done in the last few weeks proves we are a good team," he said.

The other first-round games Wednesday were Carlsbad vs. Mayfield, West Mesa vs. Eldorado and Valley vs. Alamogordo.

Quarterfinal games today are at 1 and 1:30. The semifinal games are at 1 p.m. on field 7 (where the Rams will play, if victorious yesterday and today) and 8. The championship game will be played at 12:30 p.m. Saturday on field 8.

Headers: In a story that appeared in the Oct. 12 issue of The Observer, the story about the Rams girls' win over Cibola noted RRHS's Klarissa Ames was involved in a brief scuffle with a CHS player, identified as Rachel Farley. It turns out there were two players listed as wearing No. 21 that day, which is how Farley's name came about; by Murphy's Law, it was the "other 21," Bianca Ontiveros, who battled Ames for a few moments. The Observer apologizes for the erroneous identification in that issue.

... Former Rams standout Kara Henderson notched an assist on what turned out to be the final goal for Eastern New Mexico University in the Zias' 4-1 loss to Texas A&M-Commerce in an opening-round game of the Lone Star Conference tournament last week. Henderson, a senior, was named to the LSC Commissioner's Honor Roll.

... Speaking of ENMU, former Ram Adam Diehl netted the Greyhounds' first-ever postseason goal last week, but it went for naught as Diehl and his ENMU teammates lost a 5-1 opening-round LSC tournament game to Midwestern State. Diehl is a junior at Eastern.