1A-3A boys championship: Santa Fe Prep rallies past Sandia Prep in PK thriller

In the fleeting moment when the season of the team he coached might suddenly end, Rick Canby, the boys soccer coach at Santa Fe Prep, couldn’t bear to watch.

“I just looked away,” Canby said, laughing. “I don’t want to see this. I’ll listen to the crowd. I heard it hit the post.”

At the south end of the University of New Mexico Soccer Complex, a Sandia Prep player stepped up to the line for a penalty in the fifth round of a shootout, and a goal would have won the Class 1A-3A state championship for the Sundevils.

The shot hit iron.

Santa Fe Prep’s Henry Kocon a minute later converted in the sixth round, Sandia Prep’s sixth-round shooter hit the crossbar, and the Blue Griffins (19-2), in a thriller, beat the Sundevils 3-2 in the shootout.

The game was 2-2 after two overtimes.

“Man, it was a rollercoaster of emotions,” Kocon said. “I’ve never really taken a penalty in my career in a situation like that.”

And he said he was grateful for the chance, since Sandia Prep’s Ryder Tregembo went to the spot with a chance to walk it off for the Sundevils. His miss extended the shootout.

“I was starting to well up,” Kocon said. “It really (was) in the hands of the soccer gods.”

Santa Fe Prep goalkeeper Vince Baker also made two saves in the shootout. His counterpart, Cole Updegraff of Santa Fe Prep, stopped three penalty tries.

Ironically, it was penalties that benefited Sandia Prep early on. Ryan Williams scored on two PKs in the first half for the Sundevils, in the 16th and 29th minutes following foul calls.

But the Blue Griffins, who were the state runner-up last year to New Mexico Military Institute, were not altogether in an untenable position.

“(We said), they can’t stay with us if we play our way,” Kocon said.

Camby’s message to his group at halftime was succinct.

“I just told them, we did not play our soccer the first 40 minutes, and they still didn’t score on us other than PKs. I said, ‘We have this. We can score two goals easy, if we possess and build,’ and we did that the first 20 minutes (of the second half).”

And this is where one of Santa Fe Prep’s youngest players delivered magnificently.

In the second half, impressive eighth-grader Aiden Nickson scored twice, in the 50th minute and then again with the equalizer in the 59th minute, to change everything.

“I think first half, we were really off balance as a team,” Nickson said. “I think a lot of us were asleep, not awake, we weren’t connecting very well. But in the second half, we brought it all.”

Nickson’s clutch performance had teammates and coaches singing his praises.

“Aiden is just phenomenal,” Kocon said. “He’s there every time we need him.”

Added Camby: “He’s just that kid. He’s been fantastic for us, and he stepped up big for us today. He’s always in the right spot, and it’s super nice to have a guy who can do that.”

Sandia Prep (17-5-1) was going after a 22nd state title, which would have extended its state record. It was a crushing, gut-wrenching setback for the Sundevils.

“Sometimes,” longtime coach Tommy Smith said, “sports can be cruel.”

He also spoke about Sandia Prep’s strong first half perhaps biting them a bit in the second half.

“We came out so hard and so fast and with so much energy,” he said, “and it’s pretty hard to keep that up for an entire game.”

For Santa Fe Prep, it last won state in 2016. Those final moments in the shootout were almost unbearably stressful for all concerned.

“It was intense,” Nickson said. “I don’t know how else to say it. But this is what we came for. This is how we do it at Prep.”

Moments from 2025 boys state soccer finals