Rain stops season-opening doubleheader.

It wasn’t just the season opener for the Santa Fe High boys and girls soccer teams Wednesday afternoon.

It was the start of a new era at the school. Never will anyone have to ask, “What’s the score?” at a soccer match again.

Players, coaches and administrators celebrated the installment of LED lights and a scoreboard on the multipurpose field on the south end of the campus with a ceremony prior to a soccer doubleheader against Siringo Road rival St. Michael’s. Even the online broadcast company Sports Primo was on hand to give viewers the play-by-play of both matches.

The scoreboard didn’t get a workout, but the lights proved to be helpful as the sky darkened with an oncoming series of thunderstorms that short-circuited the action.

The Demonettes and Lady Horsemen played to a 1-all tie in the opening match, but the boys teams got through a soggy 15 minutes before the storms put an end to the match. SFPS athletic director Larry Chavez said the teams will start their match over at 4 p.m. Thursday at Santa Fe High.

The field’s new toys were met with a positive review by Demonettes head coach Alvin Valdez.

“I think they did a great job,” Valdez said. “Hat’s off to Santa Fe Public Schools. We’ve had some issues in the past, but the field is great, the lights are great. They came out and filmed it. We were definitely appreciative of it.”

What Valdez appreciated more was the performance of his squad of mostly underclassmen. The teams played to scoreless first half, but St. Michael’s waited just one minute into the second half before putting a goal on the scoreboard.