ALBUQUERQUE — Both Rio Rancho High School soccer teams advanced after beating teams of dogs — Bulldawgs and Huskies — in first-round games of the annual Albuquerque Academy Invitational Thursday afternoon.

The victories sent the Rams boys (6-0) and girls (4-1) into semifinal games Friday. Championship and third-place games were to be played Saturday.

Rams 6, Las Cruces 3: Nico Muñiz scored his 11th and 12th goals of the season to help the Rams grab a 3-1 lead by intermission.

From left, Courtney Solwick, Rosie White and Kelly Angerosa listen to coach Uwe Balzis at halftime.

Muñiz scored in the game’s fourth minute on a pass from Cristobal Duran.

Four minutes later, after a Rio Rancho defender fell down and paved the way for a breakaway goal — the first in six games by an opponent. Thomas Guarino, played goalkeeper in the first half, was the victim.

Julian Roberts then scored on a pass from Muñiz in the 26th minute, and Duran set up Muñiz with an insurance goal about six minutes before halftime.

After the Bulldawgs, who lost a 6-0 game to the Rams in Las Cruces last Saturday, pulled within one in the 43rd minute, Gabe Velasquez converted a penalty kick in the 48th minute to up the lead to two again.

Ten minutes later, Javier Gomez scored off a pass from Mike Gonzales for 5-2. Barely a minute later, the Bulldawgs made it 5-3 when they scored on a rebound opportunity off goalie Devin Potter.

Chris Herrera scored the game’s final goal, with an assist credited to Gonzales, in the 63rd minute.

The victory sent the Rams into a semifinal with the host Chargers, who edged the Rams 1-0 in last year’s Academy Invite title game.

“Two good goals; credit to Las Cruces for playing a better game this time,” noted Rams coach John Shepard, whose team had shut out its first five opponents.

He said his team played about 30 good minutes in the game.

“I think we went in and kind of took them for granted and you know that’s always a fear when you play a team a second time. We needed a wake-up call,” he said.

Rams 1, Huskies 0: The Rams offense was all but non-existent again, after managing one goal in what turned out to be a 98-minute affair with Aztec on Sept. 2 and not scoring at all in a 2-0 loss to Eldorado on Sept. 9.

Senior Kelly Angerosa’s goal off a corner kick by Rosie White came in the 61st minute and proved to be the winner against stubborn Hope Christian.

The victory sent the Rams into a semifinal game with Las Cruces, which fell to the Rams 1-0 in overtime at a state semifinal game last November.

“I told the girls today they have a chance, the ones who have seen less playing time, to step it up and they didn’t,” coach Uwe Balzis said. “That’s part of siccer — you can’t win if you don’t score a goal.”

The Rams were without forward Elizabeth Hemminger, who had a minor injury and was expected to play Friday.

Headers: The Rams face Highland Tuesday, with the boys playing the Hornets at 5:30 p.m. at Rio Rancho Stadium and the girls play the Hornets at 6:30 p.m. at Highland.

… New Jersey Institute of Technology sophomore goalkeeper Sadie Mele, a former three-sport Rams athlete, earned the first Great West Conference Defensive Player of the Week award after she finished the first week of the season with 31 saves, six goals-against and a .838 saves percentage in three games. Mele, a 2007 RRHS grad, posted a career-high 14 saves in the Highlanders’ season opener against Army on Aug. 26, passing her old mark of 12, which she did twice last season.