La Cueva's Amber Ashcraft on doorstep of 500 wins, adding to legacy as state's winningest soccer coach

Every time the La Cueva High School girls soccer team wins a game, Amber Ashcraft extends one record, and inches closer to another.

On Friday afternoon at Eldorado, Ashcraft’s Bears take on their District 2-5A archrivals. But few people outside of the La Cueva program’s bubble are likely aware that Ashcraft is on the threshold of a milestone victory.

If La Cueva (8-3) beats Eldorado (8-1-1), that would be career win No. 500 at La Cueva for Ashcraft, New Mexico’s winningest coach.

“It’s one of those milestones that I never thought I would hit,” said Ashcraft, 50. “Now that it’s here, it’s super special.”

No man or woman in New Mexico has coached more soccer wins, in either gender, than Ashcraft, who is in her 29th season at La Cueva.

There have been, after Wednesday’s 2-1 decision over Sandia, 499 victories. There have been only 92 losses, and 11 draws. If she doesn’t get to 500 on Friday, her next chance comes Wednesday, against Capital.

“I think that it’s something very special to be able to maybe be the first women’s (high school) soccer coach in the nation to hit 500, and do it all at the same school. That’s a big thing for me,” Ashcraft said.

The National Federation of State High School Associations, or NFHS, has a list of the coaches who have won the most games nationally.

Unofficially, Ashcraft ranks 11th on this list. The 10 coaches in front of her are all men. No. 10 on the NFHS site is Tim Storch of Michigan. Ashcraft started the season with 491 wins, but her name, oddly enough, does not appear on the NFHS list, which is why it is difficult to gauge the precision of the NFHS records.

Only one of the top 10 on the NFHS list, Jamie McGroaty of New Jersey, remains active. Ashcraft would likely not crack the top 10 (she’d need 527 victories) until the latter stages of the 2026 season, at the earliest.

She was 21 – a time, she admitted, when “I knew nothing” – when she coached her first game for the Bears. Ashcraft now has two children who are older than she was (23 and 22) when she began. A reliable support system within her family, she said, was invaluable to her coaching career.

La Cueva has bagged 10 state championships under her stewardship, and that includes an undefeated title in her first season (1997). She was Amber Cronk for the school’s first couple of blue trophies.

Her name changed, but the Bears’ continued excellence has not. Consider that La Cueva reached the state championship game eight other times.

“Longevity for female coaches is harder,” she said. “They have children, they get caught up in their lives, being able to have a long career for a woman is more difficult.”

But Ashcraft said she retains a great passion for coaching La Cueva.

“I still have the same fire that I’ve always had, because I have high expectations of my players and my team and that has never changed,” she said. “It just comes out a little bit different with me getting older.”

As for what specifically has sparked all this success, she cited various factors: her philosophy; the quality of La Cueva’s athletes and their soccer acumen; and her system.

“It’s all of those things,” Ashcraft said. And this brew is still working just fine.

“In some ways, (coaching) is even more important to me now, because I see the impact,” she added. “I love my players, I love my program. Knowing that this has been the legacy I’ve created, I have more excitement to get up and keep the legacy going, and keep our traditions going at La Cueva.”