The Roswell boys soccer team defeated the Carlsbad Cavemen 10-0 Tuesday, Oct. 6, at Cielo Grande Sports Complex to earn its first district victory.
The match ended with less than two minutes remaining when the Coyotes (14-1-1, 1-0-1 District 4-5A) reached the 10-goal threshold for the “mercy rule.”
The rule requires that the game be awarded to the team with the higher score when they are winning by 10 goals.
Roswell’s depth was on full display, with six players finding the back of the net.
“We’re deep offensively all the way through,” Coyotes head coach Robert Madrid said. “A lot of our guys who haven’t got a lot of minutes lately because we’ve been in competitive matches came in and looked like they didn’t miss a beat. I’m really impressed with our bench and excited for next year because a lot of them are underclassmen who will be important players coming up.”
Roswell wasted no time setting the tone. Senior midfielder Hiram Alvarado opened the scoring seven minutes into the match, powering a shot past the Carlsbad defense to give the Coyotes a 1-0 lead.
Just one minute later, sophomore forward Ronaldo Martinez doubled the advantage, putting the Cavemen (2-14-1, 0-3) in a hole before they had a chance to settle into the match.
Then came New Mexico’s leading scorer. Sophomore forward Debrice Ashung scored twice in an 18-minute span, pushing Roswell’s lead to 4-0.
Junior midfielder Angel Campuzano capped the first-half scoring, finding the back of the net from the left side of the field with 9:16 remaining before halftime. Roswell carried a 5-0 advantage into the break.
The Coyotes picked up right where they left off in the second half. Junior midfielder Omar Martinez scored less than a minute after intermission, and Ronaldo Martinez added his second goal of the night two minutes later as Roswell surged ahead 7-0.
For a stretch, it appeared the Coyotes emptied the tank, but they hadn’t. With less than four minutes remaining, junior midfielder Santiago Reyna scored his first two goals of the season, pushing the margin to 9-0.
Then Ashung delivered the final blow. He found the net in the closing minutes to give Roswell its 10th goal of the night and trigger the mercy rule.
The goal also carried historic significance: Ashung’s 35th of the season tied Roswell’s single-season school record.
“He’s a special player,” Madrid said. “He’s having a really special season and hopefully he can break the record next game.”
For Madrid, Tuesday’s rout was another sign the Coyotes are hitting their stride at the right time.
“I feel like we’re playing our best soccer right now,” Madrid said. “We just need to keep getting better each week and I feel like that’ll lead to a successful end to the season.”
Roswell returns home to face the Clovis Wildcats (10-5, 1-1) at 6 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 8.
Marshall Mecham can be reached at (915) 232-1793 or on X @mecham_marshall. Mecham serves with the New Mexico Local News Fellowship, which places emerging journalists in newsrooms across the state. Learn more at www.newmexicolocalnewsfellowships.org.
