NMMI Sports Press
The Colt Varsity Soccer team scored early and often against the visiting Socorro Warriors Tuesday on Stapp Parade Field, earning a 9-0 victory and moving to 6-1 in district play.
NMMI head coach John Barbour gave his team specific instructions for this game in an attempt to improve against an inferior opponent while getting prepared for the final regular-season matchup against district-leading Hatch Valley on Saturday.
“We wanted to work on crossing, so we really tried to get a cross in before taking a shot,” Barbour said. “We were laying balls to the midfield to get shots from the outside. And we were trying to possess the ball through the defense.”
Barbour said he enjoyed watching his team spread out and force the opponent to cover much more ground to defend them.
“Our team really spread out from top to bottom, which gave us a lot more depth to be able to pass and work the ball,” he said. “We found numerous passing lanes and had great finishes. It was beautiful soccer today. My hats off to all our players. They all played great.”
Junior Zack Ezra and freshman Daniel Miranda each scored two goals. Sophomore Mason Hicks, junior Hector Leon, junior Humberto Valdes, freshman Daniel Miranda and senior Marco Ramos each scored a goal.
“I always enjoy it when we have a multitude of player scoring and not just one, or even two,” Barbour said. “We found out last year that if one player monopolizes the scoring, it’s easy for some teams to take them out of the match. We really want to utilize as many players as we can, and we did that today.”
The final NMMI score was put in the net by Socorro after sophomore Nicolas Barcenas sent a cross too long, but Miranda saved it from going out of bounds with a high kick and as the Warrior defender tried to settle the ball coming down in front of his goal, he accidentally sent the ball over his goalkeeper and in.
Senior Nickole Mendez, one of the few girls that play soccer at NMMI, had a chance to score a 10th goal for the Colts, but her penalty shot sailed wide. Her male teammates on the sideline were on their feet and recording with their phones as she took the shot.
“It’s a tight-knit bunch,” said Barbour. “They tease each other relentlessly, but at the end of the day, they’re also going to go to battle with and for each other.”
The Colts need to defeat Hatch Valley on Saturday to force a tie atop the district standings and trigger the state tiebreaker procedure, which involves goal differential. A win, even if it doesn’t win the district, would help with state tournament seeding.
“I think we’ve got a good chance. They’re beatable, but at the same time they’ve got a good side,” Barbour said. “They have a senior heavy team. We’ll work hard the next couple days and put something together that challenges them. We’re not going to give it to them. We’ll fight and take it down to the wire and make it hard on the voting folks up in Albuquerque.”
The Colts face the Bears Saturday at 1 p.m. on Stapp Parade Field.