近距离内射合集

Brooklyn Fankam in the second overtime for Hope Christian, Yahir Mendoza in the first overtime for Rio Grande. Within about a minute of each other, those golden goals allowed the Albuquerque Metro Soccer Championships to attain the buzziest of conclusions on Thursday night.

Hope鈥檚 girls successfully defended their metro title, while Rio Grande鈥檚 boys will get to put their name on the giant metro trophy for the first time after their dramatic wins at the APS Complex, which was overflowing with fans.

Boys

RIO GRANDE 2, ALBUQUERQUE HIGH 1 (OT): Sometimes, this is the way it works. Senior forward Yahir Mendoza of the Ravens had a look at a shot in the 87th minute from right around 6 yards out.

He basically whiffed.

鈥淭o be honest,鈥� he said, smiling, 鈥淚 missed the first one.鈥�

But he did not miss his second chance.

鈥淚 turned around and it was still there,鈥� he said, 鈥渟o I (shot) it in.鈥�

And so ended a fantastic metro final between these District 5-5A rivals, a game in which Rio Grande (6-0) was playing from behind for about the first three-quarters of the match against AHS (5-1), which had a fifth-minute tally.

Mendoza was fouled in the box in the 57th minute; teammate Kevin Trejo converted the ensuing penalty kick for a 1-1 game.

Mendoza鈥檚 goal late in the first, 10-minute OT allowed Rio Grande to celebrate what was arguably the most important regular-season win in the program鈥檚 history.

鈥淢y mom (Mary Ann) passed away a month ago, and my boys said, 鈥榃eems, we鈥檙e gonna win this for you and your mom,鈥� 鈥� Rio Grande coach Brian Weems said. 鈥淚鈥檓 so grateful and proud to coach these boys.鈥�

The Ravens were a 2 seed at state last November, but bowed out in the quarterfinals.

鈥淲e knew we had to get over the mental hurdle,鈥� Weems said. 鈥淲e knew we had the skill level, we just had to get over the hurdle of just being prepared and understand the moment and the pressure, and overcoming that pressure.鈥�

And now the Ravens hope to use this as a springboard for the rest of the season.

鈥淚 mean, this is only one stop forward,鈥� Mendoza said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e gonna try to win it all.鈥�

Girls

HOPE CHRISTIAN 1, LA CUEVA 0 (2 OT): The freight train that is the Huskies (6-0) were pushed about as hard as they could have been by the Bears (4-1), and this game was closing in on PKs until Fankam blasted home a shot from the top of the 18 to end things.

She deftly maneuvered past a couple of La Cueva defenders, squared up and went high into the corner for the game-winner.

鈥淚 just felt like, why not, might as well take a shot,鈥� said the sophomore forward.

Penalties were the last thing Hope wanted, especially considering two Huskies 鈥� freshman Audrey Stockton and sophomore Mechi Garbarino 鈥� both banged shots off the crossbar, one in the second half, the other in the first overtime.

In fact, the OT crossbar came back out and it appeared that Hope had gotten a rebound past the goal line. But no goal was called.

鈥淕reat game, and we persevered through it,鈥� said Amy Fankam, coach of the five-time defending Class 4A state champions. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 get a lot of opportunities to play double overtime, so fantastic.鈥�

Hope鈥檚 6-0 start already includes wins over four 5A powers: La Cueva, Eldorado, Rio Rancho and 近距离内射合集 Vista. And the Huskies have accomplished all of this with their best player, senior midfielder Bryson Fankam 鈥� last season鈥檚 New Mexico Gatorade Player of the Year 鈥� not having played a single minute this season. She is expected back soon following a knee injury.

鈥淚t鈥檚 pretty amazing,鈥� said Brooklyn, Bryson鈥檚 sister. 鈥淲e鈥檙e pretty pumped to be here.鈥�

James Yodice covers prep sports for the Journal. You can reach him at jyodice@abqjournal.com or via X at .