Santa Fe Preparatory's boys soccer team practiced in the gym.

St. Michael's and Desert Academy boys elected to call off practice.

St. Michael's girls and Monte del Sol boys went at it amid the cold temperature and the wet grounds from the latest storm to hit the city. With the state soccer tournaments gearing up this weekend, teams elected to handle the wet weather in different ways.

But most of the coaches admitted a day off won't hurt their teams. In the case of Rob Lochner, the Wildcats' head coach, it played into his plans. Desert Academy, the 12th seed, has a Class A-AAA first-round match against No. 5 Albuquerque Hope Christian on Friday.

"Actually, I like to taper off before a contest," Lochner said, "especially when the school is dealing with health issues and academics. People are a little burned out, so I don't want to put much pressure on them."

Hersch Wilson, the Blue Griffins' head coach, had players go through a light workout in Prep Gymnasium just so their skills stayed crisp. Prep, the seventh seed in A-AAA, plays host to 10th-seeded Socorro on Friday.

"Mostly, your touch gets a little off, and we just kind of lose focus," Wilson said. "Tomorrow, we'll be back on the field. We'll be fine."

Both St. Michael's teams won't see the pitch until Nov. 5, since they earned first-round byes. The No. 2 Lady Horsemen are facing a 13-day layoff, but head coach Ed Velie has his players facing off with the boys team, the second seed, in eight-on-eight competitions.

"They're tight fields so that we can put ourselves under pressure of time and space," Velie said, "because you don't have either one."

Old vs. new playoff format

The New Mexico Activities Association decided in March to eliminate the World Cup-style, pool-play format that was used for the previous two tournaments. That involved the 12 teams coming to the Santa Ana Soccer Complex for two matches over three days — four pools had three teams — to determine the semifinal bracket.

The NMAA eliminated that to reduce travel costs because some teams would travel to Albuquerque twice. In its place is a single-elimination bracket used before 2007.

As far as local coaches' feelings about it — Wilson, Lochner and Velie — they prefer the World Cup format, but for different reasons. Wilson liked the atmosphere of having soccer matches on most of the 24-field complex, while Velie preferred to keep his team sharp for the semifinals.

Lochner felt the pool play helped showcase his new program (it's 3 years old) to other schools, which helped him schedule better teams.

"Playing with Rehoboth (last year) was good," Lochner said. "We got two games with them this year wouldn't have gotten if not for playing them in state. We're newcomers on the scene. Getting exposure for us is a good thing."

Thinking of the prom in October

May is a long way off, but for Monte del Sol goalkeeper Ryan Keffer, it's never too early to think about the senior prom. He already has a date in mind, but he needs some help to make it happen.

Keffer would like to take international pop star Shakira.

"I think she is very beautiful, but I would love it if she could go to prom with me," Keffer said. "It would be really funny and awesome if she did that."

Keffer said he was mesmerized by the singer when friends showed him a video from her She Wolf album. Now, he wants to turn what started as a inside joke into reality.

"I saw the video and was like, 'Wow, she is the most beautiful person I have met,' " Keffer said.

Now that the offer is official, Keffer only has six months to make it happen.