5A boys soccer: Centennial gives '100' percent in a special championship run

The Centennial Hawks hooted and hollered, they jumped and they shouted.

It was the dance of the newest member into the New Mexico high school boys soccer first-timers club.

With the second overtime having nearly completely melted away, and with a penalty-kick shootout imminent, No. 1 seed Centennial walked off No. 2 La Cueva with a goal in the 100th minute, and claimed a hard-fought 2-1 victory in the Class 5A final at the University of New Mexico on Saturday afternoon.

“We came out to make history and that’s what we did,” Centennial senior Josiah Parra-Guerrero said.

Raphael Marceaux, who laughed as he admitted that he doesn’t even play forward — he was an outside back most of the season — displayed some nifty footwork as he got past a La Cueva defender on the game-winning, and championship-clinching, goal.

Then he was more or less one-on-one with La Cueva’s goalkeeper, Luis Benecomo, who guessed one direction while Marceaux went the other. He buried the low shot in the right corner and Centennial (22-1) celebrated its first blue trophy.

“It was just a surreal moment,” Marceaux said. “The second it hit in the back of the net, it hit me. I’m a state champ now. It was an amazing feeling.”

Centennial, which had reached the 2022 final where it fell to Cleveland, trailed 1-0 for a majority of the match.

Parra-Guerrero’s header into an empty net from about 2 feet away was the equalizer in the 74th minute for Centennial. He also had a goal for Centennial in its semifinal win over Eldorado.

“I was tearing up when we scored our first goal,” Marceaux said. ”(On mine), I couldn’t hold it in. I was crying full on.”

Parra-Guerrero’s goal was the mood changer for the Hawks.

“He (coach Daniel Loya) puts in me, he tells me to go after everything, after every header,” he said.

Watching the Hawks tie the game so late in full time was for Loya not a shock.

“That’s kind of how we’ve been, we’ve struggled to get that first one on the board. But once we get that first one, then all gears start going. Today was no different. We just had to capitalize on our opportunity. It was there and it happened,” Loya said.

Both teams had a couple of excellent scoring chances in the two overtimes, the best of them saw the Hawks bang a hard shot off the crossbar in the second OT.

La Cueva (17-2-3) took the lead in the 18th minute. Winston Starr sent in an excellent free kick into the box from about 40 yards away, where Christian Gerhardt headed it home.

For Loya, the victory was especially fulfilling, as he was coaching his final game with the Hawks. He had announced to his team before the season that this would be his final go-round with Centennial, where he’s been the school’s only head coach since it opened in 2012.

“I’m done. I got kids and I want to be part of their lives,” he said.

That being said, he went out in grand style as Marceaux’s shot was fired into the back of the net.

“My legs tried to run after the boys, they just collapsed on me,” Loya said. “I fell to the ground and started crying. It was just unreal.”

For his players, too.

“We’re all in this together,” Parra-Guerrero said. “We all win state together, and that’s what we did. We won state.”

Photos from the 4A/5A state soccer championships: Feel the emotion