ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – The first state champions of the 2023-23 high school season were crowed on Friday night. Both boys and girls A-3A soccer championships took place at the UNM soccer field with the NMMI boys and Sandia Prep girls leaving the field with blue hardware.
New Mexico Military Institute entered the tournament as a two seed and met the one seed, Sandia Prep, in the finals. The Colts were able to tack on four goals against the three-time defending champs, and come away with a 4-2 victory. The win marks the first-ever soccer championship for NMMI.
“This is what we wanted since the first day,” said David Portugal. “We all worked for this and we’re so happy that we can have the first championship in NMMI history.”
The girls started off the evening with a rematch of last year’s final, Sandia Prep and Bosque. The Sundevils once again found the back of the net twice against the Bobcats, as they won 2-0. The win marks 3rd consecutive for Sandia Prep and the 7th title in the last eight years. This is the 12th ever girls state championship win in school history, which is tied for second in the state.
“We’ve just been working for this all season and it feels good that like three years of hard work has really paid off,” Bridget Hurley said.
