‘Fairly even’ division loses its top seed to upset
St. Mike’s stuns Bosque, advances to semifinals
SANTA ANA PUEBLO —It was a topsyturvy and turbulent Wednesday afternoon for some of the Class 1A-3A boys top seeds in the state soccer tournament.
No. 1 Bosque was ousted by fellow District 3 squad St. Michael’s, which will meet fellow Santa Fe program Monte del Sol, an overtime winner, Thursday. Sandia Prep coasted in the semifinals to face New Mexico Military Institute after the latter also needed overtime to advance. No. 8 ST. MICHAEL’S 2, No. 1 BOSQUE 0:
Coming into the match, Horsemen coach Mike Feldewert felt his squad could make some noise.
“These final eight teams to me, we’re all fairly even,” he said. “Yes we’re the No. 8 seed, but I felt like we were right there with everybody else.”
It was a sweet noise St. Mike’s (11-9-2) delivered with its two second-half goals.
The youthful Bobcats (15-2-3) made a couple of crucial errors that proved to be the difference, said coach Jorgé Vela.
“You play well, you play strong, but you make a couple of mistakes and that’s the game,” he said. “It’s sad for the boys. They worked hard, but they’re still super young. We have three older players who tried to lead us and did everything they could.”
Aiden Fairchild got St. Mike’s going in the 47th minute. The Horsemen flooded the offensive third on an attack, and Oliver Rosales’ booming shot caromed off a Bosque defender right to Aiden Fairchild, who was able to slot it in.
In the 65th minute, Esteban Rigales delivered a through ball that Trevor Erickson won from a Bosque defender, then chipped it in.
“You have to learn to win the big ones still,” Vela said. “Absolutely. That’s the thing. You know you’re ready to become something when you can handle the bull’s-eye on your back.”
The Horsemen were sound across the field and goalkeeper Daniel Dominguez smothered the few chances Bosque created.
“Defensively, obviously, we played one of our better games,” Feldewert said. “And … we knew that sophomore keeper had it in him.”
No. 3 SANDIA PREP 5, No. 6 SOCORRO
0: It took just a couple of minutes for Jake Eckenroth to get the Sundevils (15-5-1) on the board. Then they poured it on.
“I think we were a little fortunate on the first goal, It was a little deflection, but it got us going,” Sandia Prep coach Tommy Smith said. “We played these guys earlier in the year. We knew they were going to come out hard, so it was important for us to try to match that energy and try to get an early goal, which we were fortunate to do.”
Eric Presura scored midway through the first half and five minutes into the second half to take some of the energy away from the Warriors (11-8-1).
“With conditions the way they were, I thought our midfield did a good job of stringing some passes together, Smith said. “Kind of controlling the tempo for the most part. We struggled a little bit with their physicality and every ball that they play was direct, trying to get us through over the top.”
No. 4 MONTE del SOL 5, No. 5 HATCH VALLEY 4 (OT): The Dragons (17-3) seemed to have the game well in hand after Pedro Chavez broke a 2-all halftime tie early in the second half with his second goal of the game, followed shortly thereafter by a goal from Zaith Guzman. But the Bears (10-10-1) rallied for two late goals to force overtime only to watch Axel Lozoya race down the field to score shortly after the whistle to start the first overtime period. No. 2 NMMI 1, TIERRA ENCANTADA 0 (2 OTs): Daniel Angulo’s goal early in the second overtime sent the Colts (18-1-1) over the Alacranes (14-5).