STUNNING UPSET
Las Cruces knocks Demons out of state soccer tourney
The dream season is over.
With temperatures inside Ivan Head Stadium dipping into the low 40s for Tuesday’s opening round of the Class 5A girls soccer state tournament, the swirling wind, chilly conditions and rarefied 7,000-foot air seemed the perfect elixir for Santa Fe High to get a win against visiting Las Cruces. Not so fast.
Behind a first-half goal by the Lady Bulldawgs’ Leah Tapia, 12th-seeded Las Cruces made off with a stunning 1-0 upset of No. 5 Santa Fe to advance to Saturday’s state quarterfinals at Hobbs.
“Not the weather or the altitude were a factor for us, because you prepare for things like this by practicing hard on the field and preparing for it mentally,” said Las Cruces coach Bobby Bertoldo.
Santa Fe High rode into the game with a 19-1 record, outscoring its opponents 143-5 in what was the most successful regular season in school history. The Demons won District 5-5A and were the last undefeated team in the large-school classification heading into the final two weeks of the season.
“There’s a lot to be proud of and a lot to be excited about because you look at what we have, what we can build upon and what we’ve got coming back. This is a tough loss to take, but I think everyone around here knows this is just the start,” said Santa Fe High head coach Justin Najaka. “Of course, we wanted more, and if you saw our postgame talk, there were a few tears in there. We’re upset, but it doesn’t take away from what we did.”
The Demons never mounted much of an attack in the first half, getting just one shot before the break. Las Cruces scored its lone goal late in the first half, when Tapia raced down the left side with a defender on her shoulder. As she raced in, Demons goalkeeper Molly Wissman came forward to make a play on the ball. That’s when Tapia got just enough on it to roll the ball into the open net.
It wasn’t until the final 10 minutes of regulation that the Santa Fe High offense sprang to life. Facing a Las Cruces defense that settled back and packed the far end of the pitch, the Demons had three quality shots that nearly found the back of the net.
The best, and most painful, was a chest-high line drive shot from Allison Segura-Maze from the left flank. The ball sliced ever so slightly and bounced hard off the post on what would have been the game-tying goal with just a few seconds remaining.