The more things change, the more they remain the same for Rio Rancho High School varsity boys soccer coach John Shepard.

The 2009 season brought the loss of several players to Cleveland High School, playing home games on a different field than past seasons and a new configuration in District 1-5A, which has housed the Rams since the 2000 season.

No problem.

Devin Potter came up with a key save on this play against visiting Cibola on Wednesday.

Shepard and the Rams merely renewed their claim as the district’s best team halfway through the campaign with a 2-0 victory over visiting Cibola Wednesday afternoon, leaving RRHS (12-3, 4-0) alone atop the standings.

It was the Rams’ 14th straight victory over Cibola, which hasn’t beaten Rio Rancho since a two-game sweep back in 2003.

Sophomore Pat Matthews scored twice in the latest win over the Cougars (10-6, 3-1), with his goal in the 38th minute giving his team some margin for error and the second tally, a “fluky” goal that casually bounced past CHS goalkeeper Matthew Bustamante, serving as an insurance goal.

Fluky or not — it looked as if anyone watching the game could have caught or stopped the slowly bouncing ball — Shepard said he’d take it.

“We’ve all been on both ends of those too many times,” he said. “I feel like we had some offensive pressure there for about 10 minutes, we kind of deserved a break. So you could look at it either way but, yeah, it was a fluky goal.

“But our first goal we created nicely, did a good job of finishing with Patrick there,” Shepard said. “Again — strength. We played good D for 80 minutes. I was really proud of the boys and it is a big win.”

Before the game Shepard said Cibola was one of the best teams the Rams would face all season; that the Cougars’ 3-0 victory at Sandia Prep on Oct. 1 demonstrated that.

In spite of his senior-laden team, Shepard said his team is still learning to get better during practice sessions.

“We’ve been doing some things at practice and they needed to see that they worked, and they worked today,” he said. “It’s so the guys say, ‘Oh, yeah, when we do that at practice, it works at games.’ They needed to see some of the new things we were doing were something we needed to do and it worked today.”

Shepard was especially pleased that his team was able to keep Julio Velasquez, the Cougars’ senior midfielder who is second in Class 5A scoring, from putting a ball behind goalkeeper Devon Potter.

“He’s money; he’s good,” Shepard said. “We did a good job of shutting him down. Like I said, defense is our strength, but we knew he’s a known factor, so we went out there and made sure we had eyes on him all the time because he is a quality player.

“Anytime you can beat Cibola, it’s a good day,” Shepard concluded.

Headers: In their last four seasons as district champs, the Rams have only lost twice — both times to West Mesa. Since the 2005 season, RRHS is 38-2 in 1-5A games.

… The Rams, slated to play at Gallup Saturday, face West Mesa Tuesday at the new APS soccer complex at 6:30 p.m. and play host to No. 1 La Cueva Thursday at 5:30 p.m.

… The Rams’ junior varsity team (7-2) also scored a victory over Cleveland on Oct. 2, the evening the varsity Rams beat the Storm 4-0. Josh Lucero scored twice and Chris Clinton, Cody Kirk, Lucas Seligman, Alec Gonzales and Brandon Sharpnack chipped in with a goal apiece. Jason Baker posted a shutout in goal. The Rams’ JV fell to Mayfield, 1-0.