The road to a state championship begins this week for Roswell and Goddard, with three local soccer teams preparing for postseason play after the New Mexico Activities Association released its Class 1A-6A state tournament brackets at 10:30 p.m. Monday.
Roswell landed the No. 2 seed in the Class 5A boys bracket and the No. 11 seed in the girls bracket, while Goddard claimed the No. 14 seed in the Class 4A boys tournament.
The approach remains the same for each team: one game at a time. In the single-elimination tournament, however, a loss ends the season.
Roswell boys earn No. 2 seed
The Roswell boys soccer team (18-1-1, 5-0-1 District 4-5A) enters the Class 5A tournament as the No. 2 seed and will open against the No. 15 Centennial Hawks (10-8-2, 4-2-2 District 3-5A) at 6 p.m. Wednesday at Cielo Grande Sports Complex.
The Coyotes defeated Centennial 3-1 on Sept. 8 at Cielo Grande.
A victory would send Roswell into the quarterfinals against the winner of the matchup between the No. 7 Capital Jaguars (13-5-2, 6-3-1 District 2-5A) and the No. 10 Volcano Vista Hawks (10-7-2, 5-3 District 1-5A).
Roswell girls face road test
The Roswell girls soccer team (12-5-3, 4-0-2 District 4-5A) drew the No. 6 Rio Rancho Rams (11-7-1, 3-4-1 District 1-5A) in the first round of the Class 5A tournament at 6 p.m. Thursday on the road.
A Roswell victory would set up a quarterfinal matchup against either the No. 3 La Cueva Bears (15-2-2, 9-1 District 2-5A) or the No. 14 Los Lunas Tigers (11-7-1, 6-2 District 5-5A).
The Coyotes played Los Lunas to a 2-2 draw on Aug. 25 at Cielo Grande.
Goddard boys open against No. 3 Santa Teresa
The Goddard boys soccer team (6-12-2, 2-3-1 District 4-4A) faces a road assignment in the Class 4A bracket, taking on the No. 3 Santa Teresa Desert Warriors (14-3-3, 5-2-1 District 3-4A) at 2 p.m. Wednesday.
Santa Teresa defeated the Rockets 3-1 on Aug. 22 at Goddard High School.
A Goddard victory would send the Rockets into the quarterfinals against either the No. 6 Artesia Bulldogs (11-5-3, 4-0-2 District 4-4A) or the No. 11 Lovington Wildcats (7-7-4, 3-0-3 District 4-4A). Both are district opponents.
The Rockets dropped both meetings with the Bulldogs this season, falling 2-1 on Oct. 10 at Cielo Grande before losing 3-0 on Oct. 13 at Robert Chase Field in Artesia.
Against Lovington, Goddard played to a 2-2 draw on Oct. 3 at Wildcat Stadium before suffering a 7-2 loss on Oct. 20 at Cielo Grande.
Every match matters
Each team must win four games to capture a state title.
Three teams, three opening-round challenges and one shared objective: keep the season alive and make a run at a state championship.
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.
