Sundevils get back to their accustomed spot
Sandia Prep downs nemesis St. Michael’s
A year ago, St. Michael’s delivered a 4-0 spanking to Sandia Prep in the Class 1A-3A state soccer semifinals on the way to the championship. Sundevils coach Matthew Westerlund never let his team forget that.
“That stung,” he said. “And I know that stuck with us all summer. Yeah, I used it as motivation. A loss is the biggest motivation. For me, everybody knew about that. I wasn’t going to let that be an elephant in the room. That is the elephant and you better look straight at it.”
The top-seeded Sundevils did just that with a 1-0 victory to get their revenge on the No. 3 Horsemen in Thursday’s championship match at the University of New Mexico Soccer and Track Complex.
“Full credit to St. Mike’s,” Westerlund said. “That was the toughest game we played all year. I didn’t think 1-0 would hold. I was telling our girls at halftime that it wasn’t. We had to press. We had to make sure that we were composed in the midfield.”
Sandia Prep (18-3-1) got that one goal early, scoring in the ninth minute when the team eschewed its usual possession-based attack for a booming long ball from Mika Juan. Maddie Hashagen ran onto the perfectly placed, over-the-top shot, beat a challenge from Horsemen goalkeeper Milena Keene at the 18, then rolled it in.
“She’s amazing,” Hashagen said of Juan, who is the consummate playmaker. “She’s in my grade and I’ve played with her since 8th grade, well, since freshman year. We work well together and I’m really proud of her and my whole team. This is the state finals so I knew I had to finish it. And I did.”
St. Mike’s (15-5) had a couple of great scoring chances, once when Elsa Ranney Smith dropped a corner kick right on the goal line that a defender knocked away, and another when Cameren Gantt blasted a shot off the crossbar.
This is Sandia Prep’s 10th championship and fifth in six years.
“This is even bigger than the last for me because as an older player on the team, I feel more responsibility than before,” Hashagen said. “So I’m glad I could provide for my team. And hopefully I can do it again next year.”
No. 1 SANDIA PREP 1, No. 3 ST. MICHAEL’S 0 St. Michael’s 0 0—-0 Sandia Prep 1 0 1—1
Scoring: SP, 9th, Maddie Hashagen (Mika Juan). Shots on goal: SM, 5; SP 5. CKs: SM 3; SP 2. SVs: SM, Milena Keene 4; SP, Georgia Williams 4 (one team save). Records: SP 18-3-1; SM 15-5.