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Breakthrough: NMMI stuns Sandia Prep for boys soccer title

20231110-spts-nmmi-1 — NMMI’s boys soccer team celebrates its 4-2 win over Sandia Prep to win the state 1A-3A championship.

20231110-spts-nmmi-6 — New Mexico Military Institute’s Javier Yepiz, center, and teammates celebrate his goal in the first half against Sandia Prep, in their state 1A-3A championship game. NMMI won the game 4-2 at UNM.

20231110-spts-nmmi-5 — Sandia Prep's Angelo Zannes, left, and Ryder Tregembo, right, battle New Mexico Military Institute's Santiago Sanchez during their state 1A-3A championship game. NMMI won the game 4-2 at UNM.

20231110-spts-nmmi-2 — New Mexico Military Institute’s Sawyer Hull (15) fires a shot into the goal to give his team a 4-1 lead over Sandia Prep in the state 1A-3A state championship game on Friday at the UNM Soccer Complex.

20231110-spts-nmmi-4 — New Mexico Military Institute's Sawyer Hull celebrates with teammate Daniel De Rueda after he scored a goal to give his team a 4-1 lead over Sandia Prep in the state 1A-3A championship.

Tristen Critchfield Tristen Critchfield Tristen Critchfield For the Journal

Published November 10, 2023 - 11:07 p.m. Modified December 15, 2024 - 2:00 a.m.

This, New Mexico Military Institute coach John Barbour says, is the type of milestone victory upon which programs are built.

The second-seeded Colts (18-3) struck for two quick goals and never looked back in a 4-2 victory over No. 1 Sandia Prep (14-8-1) in the boys Class 1A-3A championship game at the UNM Soccer Complex on Friday night. By besting a program with 21 titles — the most of any New Mexico high school — NMMI made a little history of its own with its first-ever blue trophy.

“It only gets better, right? Once you get one, then you’ve got to go back and get another one,” Barbour said. “Word-of-mouth marketing, you can’t do anything better for a school. That’s how you attract students. We want to win more, we’re hungry.”

The Colts didn’t take long to set the tone. Daniel De Rueda scored on an assist from Fabrizio Cano —two of the team’s eight seniors — to go up 1-0 in the third minute.

“When I saw that I scored, I just couldn’t believe it,” De Rueda said.

NMMI built upon that momentum a few minutes later, when Humberto Valdez, another senior, headed home a corner kick in the 9th minute to give the Colts a 2-0 advantage. It was one of two goals on the night for Valdez, who also scored in NMMI’s 5-2 loss to Sandia Prep in the 2021 championship.

“First time in school history. It feels very good,” Valdez said. “This time we won instead of second place.

“… I felt very bad when we lost two years ago. I wanted to get that revenge and actually be happy now, winning the state championship.”

For the players that were part of the 2021 team, Valdez’s sentiment was a popular rallying cry as the Colts prepared to take down the Sundevils. According to Barbour, those veterans bottled up that feeling of disappointment and used it as motivational fuel.

“We were so hungry, all of them,” Barbour said. “Some of them still have what that was like when we lost in their mouths — that sour taste hasn’t gone away.”

Sandia Prep enjoyed a glimmer of hope when Noah Lovato drilled a free kick home from outside the box to cut the deficit to 2-1 in the 31st minute. The moment was fleeting, as Valdez quickly answered by outmaneuvering a couple of Sandia Prep defenders for his second goal in the 34th minute.

The Colts increased the margin to 4-1 in the 44th minute when Sawyer Hull fired a shot into the top of the Sundevil net.

At that point, it was a deficit too great for Sandia Prep to overcome. NMMI was simply faster, more aggressive and better at connecting passes for the majority of the evening. Nowhere was that more evident than in the Colts’ quick start.

“They jumped on us quick,” Sandia Prep coach Tommy Smith said. “I think from that point on it was an even game. They were technically sound. They didn’t miss any balls in the back. Every team that we play against during the course of the season, balls get through. And they didn’t miss any of them. They were skillful. They finished well.”

Sandia Prep was short-handed on Friday, most notably missing leading scorer Leighton Dellabarca, but even Smith had to acknowledge that might not have made a difference with the way NMMI performed.

“I’m not sure, maybe we get another goal … I don’t want to take anything away from them,” Smith said. “They deserved it. We’re not used to the red trophy; we’re used to the blue one. I’m proud of my team. I think they left it on the field. That’s all I ask of them.”

While it was mostly a veteran squad for the Colts, it was a freshman, Rudolfo Anaya, who manned the net for the new champs. He held up well down the stretch during the Sundevils’ final push.

“I love having kids from Roswell at NMMI,” Barbour said. “I tell you, he showed up and he had some struggles early on, but he learned from them and got better and better.”

Now, it’s a matter of how to celebrate. In the immediate aftermath, many of those plans were a little fuzzy — with one notable exception.

“I told them that if we (won state) I’d let them shave my head, which I’m not really looking forward to,” Barbour said. “This was in the beginning, and they’ve held me to it. When we get back, I’ve got to go to the NMMI barbershop, and I’m gonna lose a little up top.”