Ledes from the Land of Enchantment

Demons show they are contenders in Class 5A with win over Bulldogs | Sports

When Mike Wissman strolled over to the visitors’ bench on Wednesday afternoon, he told no one but everyone within earshot how he felt.

“I told you!” Wissman, the senior midfielder for Santa Fe High, exclaimed. “I told you!”

The excitement underscored what could be a turning point in the history of the Santa Fe High boys soccer program.

That was clear after Santa Fe High left Albuquerque High School with a resounding 4-0 opening win in District 5-5A that would resonate across the state. In defeating the No. 2 team at 5A, the Demons announced themselves as serious contenders in the state as well as front runners in District 5-5A, according to MaxPreps.com’s country ranking.

Junior striker Alex Wagoner, who increased his state-leading total to 33 by two goals, said the players never saw themselves as upstarts.

“We always had the confidence that we could go a long way in terms of condition, even before this game,” said Wagoner. “You have to go in with that confidence or you can’t win.”

Those words are sweet music to the ears of Chris Eadie, Santa Fe High’s head coach. He spent a decade overseeing the program from 1997 to 2007, and the Demons’ next success was in 2002 when they took second place in the county but beat Albuquerque Sandia for a spot in the State 5A tournament on goal difference . There were a few wins against La Cueva during that period, but Eadie acknowledged that these teams had won because of preparation, courage, determination and a little luck.

His second tour of the program is proving to be more fruitful, especially after beating a team that have reached the state finals and won a blue trophy three times in six of the last seven years. Now Eadie sees a program capable of competing at a high level without relying on Destiny to smile at the demons.

“The key is that we have enough talent,” said Eadie. “We have some amazing players who stand out from game to game. It’s unique to have two or three really strong players like Silas [Ropp] in the back, Mike in the middle and Alex in the front. And when you use the rest of our staff, they’re all good, strong players and they improve their game. “

The Demons (10-1 overall, 1-0 in 5-5A) were aggressive from the first touch, chasing the goal for the first few minutes before finally breaking through in the eighth minute. It started with Wagoner on the right flank slipping a pass onto the tip of the penalty for Wissman. He had an open shot, but he didn’t even think about it when it passed a wide-open Henry Mazulis on the left.

Mazulis ricocheted his shot into the lower left gate to open the gate and boost the demons’ confidence.

“We practiced this back and forth all day because we knew Albuquerque High would put the pressure on,” Mazulis said. “We knew we had to get off the ball immediately.”

Santa Fe High’s confidence hit the stratosphere towards the end of the first half when Wissman played a corner kick to his best friend Wagoner, who was celebrating his 17th birthday. Wagoner headed the ball into the top half of the net in the 38th minute to make it 2-0.

The lead held due to an outstanding defensive effort that focused on time and space – and the demons didn’t give the Bulldogs any of that. Every pass and shot was fought over, and the Santa Fe High defense might as well have carried Kelly Green because they were so tightly marking their opponent.

When Albuquerque High (7-2, 0-1) had open views of the gate, senior goalkeeper Ethan Earnest was a wall in front of the gate at Santa Fe High. He had four saves, two of them in the middle of the second half. He made successive saves of punches at close range, and his game took the air out of the sails of the determined Bulldogs.

“It was just my motivation not to keep any goals in the net,” said Earnest. “I didn’t want to enforce anything for my team. It was important to me to save that and keep our energy up.”

The defensive game plan was designed by Eadie, who was exploring Albuquerque High against Rio Rancho Cleveland over the weekend.

“I saw those as her two weaknesses,” said Eadie. “These guys are so talented at the ball, and Cleveland gives them the time and space to spin.”

Eadie also made a wise decision to take the drills off the grass field at Santa Fe High and move them to the grass fields on the Downs in Santa Fe earlier this week. The idea was to get players used to a lawn on which the jumps are not as true and the ball does not pick up speed as it bounces off the surface of the lawn.

It was worth it, because the demons were crisp with their passport almost from the start.

“I had the scouting report and said, ‘This is what you have to do,'” said Eadie. “‘We’re going to work hard for an hour and a half. We’re going to fight each other and we’re going to fight for every inch and we’ll see how it goes. We have to learn how to play on grass.”

Look at the lesson you’ve learned.

And acknowledge the demons as a force to be reckoned with in 5A.

Wissman really wanted to say that.

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