NMMI Sports Press
The Colt Varsity Soccer team started their season off on the right foot with a 2-1 victory over the visiting Roswell High Coyotes under a cloudy sky on Stapp Parade Field Tuesday evening.
“I couldn’t be happier with our first game of the season. The communication was there and they played a really good game against a good team,” said NMMI head coach John Barbour. “We’re not in shape just yet, we’ve only been at it for a couple weeks. We’ve learned each others names and now we’ll learn to play together.”
The teams traded shots in the first half and it was Roswell that dealt the first blow late in the period. At halftime, Barbour talked about speed of play, and his team seemed to receive the message.
Early in the second half, senior David Portugal served up a free kick after a foul and senior Nicolas Barcenas got his head on it for the tying goal.
“It was a set piece and Barcenas played it great, just wide open,” Barbour said. “It was a good goal. It might’ve been stoppable, but it was a good one and we’ll take it.”
The tie didn’t last long, as Portugal was taken down in the box after dribbling through two defenders and was rewarded with a relatively easy penalty kick, which he converted for the 2-1 lead.
The Colts stayed active on the defensive end as Roswell scrambled to catch up during the final minutes of the contest. Freshman goalkeeper Rodolfo Anaya allowed the one goal on nine attempts, and smothered some hard struck and rotating balls that can get away from a less sure-handed keeper.
“Our back line is going to be stronger, our holding midfield will be stronger. So I think we’ll do a much better job defending against good attackers,” explained Barbour. “Our back line held up tonight and our young keeper did a fantastic job.”
The Colt roster is upperclassman heavy with eight seniors and six juniors that include several major contributors from last year’s playoff squad. But as is the norm at the Institute, there are also plenty of new faces.
“We’ve got great senior leadership and we’ve got some new seniors that decided to come out this year as well,” said Barbour. “Of course not every kid will see a ton of time on the field, but we’re happy to have good numbers and experienced leaders to teach and push the young players.”
A brief but heavy rain with some nearby lightning halted the action during the junior varsity game, a 0-3 loss by the Colts.
NMMI takes on Clovis on Tuesday, Sept. 5, with the JV starting at 4 p.m. and the varsity to follow at 6 p.m. Both games will take place on Stapp Parade Field.