Loss fuels desire of NM Rush Girls ’00
Team extra determined after disappointment in last year’s State Cup
There’s nothing like an unexpected loss to serve as a motivating factor for a team.
Such is the case with the NM Rush Girls ’00 U18 team that is heading to the US Youth Soccer Region IV Regionals for the fourth time in five seasons.
When the team begins play Monday in Seattle as one of 16 teams representing New Mexico, it will be focused on the task of winning a championship.
That loss “was definitely a stinger for us,” said forward/ attacking midfielder Brianna Martinez, who will be a senior at Volcano Vista. “I think we went in thinking we were going to win and it showed us that you can’t go into any tournament, no matter what teams you’re playing, thinking you’re going to win it.”
Rush rampaged through State Cup this season, outscoring their foes by a cumulative 38-0.
“This season, when we came back in the spring, I felt like we were all really determined and we wanted to get that redemption against our enemy (Rio Rapids) and we all worked a lot harder,” said left back Kayla Montoya, who attends Rio Rancho and is committed to Colorado College in Colorado Springs. “And we all had that mind-set that we were going to do better this year and come back stronger.
“Our backline didn’t let any goals so we had a shutout for the whole tournament and that was really exciting. I think that really helped us with confidence.”
The State Cup results were a testament to the team’s commitment to improve, said coach Pancho Macias.
“We have kids that come and train on their own, besides the work they’re doing here now,” he said. “They don’t ever complain about extra running. They’ll come on their days off and do running. They’ll come and train with other teams, boys teams. For them, it’s about understanding that every day they can get better.
“Every day they have the opportunity to get better instead of sitting at home. Why not come out and train?”
The team definitely took advantage of every opportunity to improve, said Martinez, who has played on the age-group U.S. National Team and has committed to play at Notre Dame upon graduation.
“The year before this year we were only practicing two to three times a week and this year we focused on practicing three to four times a week. We said, ‘Lets get everybody to practice. Let’s not have any excuse to not make practice unless it’s an emergency.’ Everybody wanted it more this year just because we lost State Cup last year. Working this hard over the past year to win State Cup has gotten us going and made us realize we can win regionals. Everybody showing up to practice and giving it their all in practice leads into our games in regionals and I think that’s really important as well.”
Rush will meet Oregon, Washington and a wild card from Utah.
It’s a draw that while not easy, does not include the behemoths from Cal South and Cal North, or Colorado.
“Hopefully we get out of bracket,” Macias said. “That’s our first goal. After that, anything can happen. I believe we have the opportunity to win it all. Soccer sometimes, it’s just the way the ball bounces. But
with their commitment level and their experience, we have an opportunity to make some noise.”
As a matter of fact, he said, this team compares favorably to a team several years ago that he coached to the regional finals.
“I think this team has pretty good dynamic,” Macias said. “That team ended up having two or three national players on it but this team overall, they’re a better group. Really coachable, probably the most coachable I’ve had. I’ve finally got a team that’s all on the same page as far as work rate, commitment level, skill level. They’re pretty unselfish as a unit. It doesn’t matter where they rank as individuals on the team, they all respect each other.