Prep boys soccer: St. Pius, Albuquerque Academy set for 4A rematch

Saturday’s Class 4A boys soccer state championship is a rematch from last year, although St. Pius and defending champ Albuquerque Academy took distinctively different routes to the final.

In Wednesday’s semifinals, the top-seeded Sartans dominated Artesia 5-0, while the third-seeded Chargers went on the road and eliminated Santa Teresa in a six-round, penalty-kick thriller.

The longtime rivals meet at 10 a.m. Saturday at the University of New Mexico.

That game will be followed at 12:30 p.m. by the Class 1A-3A title match, featuring No. 1 Santa Fe Prep and No. 2 Sandia Prep.

Santa Fe Prep routed Bosque School 8-1, while the Sundevils’ 2-1 victory over two-time defending champion New Mexico Military Institute ensures there will be a new champion this season.

Class 4A

No. 1 ST. PIUS 5, No. 4 ARTESIA 0: On the West Side, the Sartans posted their second 5-0 win over the Bulldogs in the last 2½ weeks; this time, it sent St. Pius back to the finals. They lost in PKs a year ago to Academy in the championship game.

“We’re talking about 13 guys that were on that team,” St. Pius coach A.J. Herrera said. “I know they think about it, and I love the fire that it generates.”

The Sartans surely weren’t guilty of looking ahead with another of their dominating performances on Wednesday.

Midway through the first half, at attempted clear by Artesia instead was turned around quickly by St. Pius’ Nico Reyes, whose goal got things started for the Sartans (18-1-3) against the Bulldogs (18-4).

Sophomore Diego Herrera in the 47th minute earned that all-important second goal, as the Sartans turned a corner kick into a 2-0 advantage early in the second half.

St. Pius pulled away with goals from Trent Yarbrough, Jude Benavides and Ethan Wright. Nico Certain assisted on two of those goals.

“We have a group, and we’ve had a group for the last three years, that has an expectation to make it to the final and take home the blue trophy,” coach Herrera said. “We are right where we want to be as a program.

“At the end of the day, these guys want it bad, they have a bitter taste in their mouth.”

The Sartans and Chargers played to a 2-2 draw on Sept. 16.

“We are so excited,” senior midfielder Mateo Certain said. “Like, no one can describe the feeling of it. To be back again after losing last year, we want to make a statement, we want to prove something in that final.”

– James Yodice

No. 3 ALBUQUERQUE ACADEMY 2, No. 2 SANTA TERESA 2 (AA won 3-2 in PKs): In Santa Teresa, Chargers senior goalkeeper Alex Saiz was the hero, saving three tries in the PK shootout as Academy (14-5-3) punched its ticket to second straight title game.

Those three stops were part of the 15 he made through the shootout and 100 minutes of regulation and overtime.

Junior Davan Mutz put home the game-winning goal in the sixth round of PKs for Academy.

Cruz Tomori scored both regulation goals for the Chargers, including a PK in the 50th minute. That goal stood as a lead until the Desert Warriors got the equalizer in the 78th minute.

Class 1A-3A

No. 2 SANDIA PREP 2, No. 3 NMMI 1: At Sandia Prep, after NMMI ended their season the past two years in the playoffs, Sandia Prep entered this semifinal showdown with vengeance on the brain.

The Sundevils (17-4) jumped out to a two-goal advantage in the first half, then held off a furious push from the Colts (15-6) down the stretch for a victory over the two-time defending state champions.

“It was definitely good to beat them. We had some skeletons in the closet we had to clear out,” said Sundevils senior forward Ryan Williams, who provided the game’s first goal with a successful penalty kick in the 24th minute.

“Definitely (a little bit of revenge), but it’s a semifinal and no matter who you’re playing, (you have to) get up for a semifinal,” said Sandia Prep coach Tommy Smith. “But yeah, there was a little extra incentive. They've been the team the last couple of years, so to get where we want to be, we knew we had to go through them at some point.”

After losing to the Sundevils 3-0 on Sept. 13, NMMI entered Wednesday on a 12-game winning streak. However, the Colts struggled to find momentum in the first half, as Williams’ PK and a goal from Akasha Khalsa in the 35th minute made it an uphill struggle.

NMMI found an extra gear in the second half, controlling possession and threatening the Sandia Prep goal more consistently than it did in the opening 40 minutes. The Colts cut the deficit to 2-1 in the 65th minute on a header by Wagner Ferreira Morato Cunha, and while they continued to make things tense in the waning moments, were unable to find the net again.

“I think they upped the level a little bit,” Smith said. “Because I thought at 2-0, coming in at halftime, I thought if we could just somehow get the third goal, it changes the whole game. But I give them credit. They battled, and they took it to us there for about a 20-25 minute period.”

The next step is for the program with the most blue trophies in New Mexico boys soccer history to win its first title since 2022.

“The seniors are ready because last time we won was freshman year. So we're definitely ready to end our soccer season on a strong note and hopefully win the championship,” Williams said.

– Tristen Critchfield

No. 1 SANTA FE PREP 8, No. 4 BOSQUE SCHOOL 1: In Santa Fe, Dylan Shandler had a hat trick as the Blue Griffins (18-2) completely dominated the Bobcats (12-9-1) and advanced to the 1A-3A state final for the second straight season.

Scenes from the New Mexico boys soccer semifinals