Last Tuesday, the Albuquerque Academy varsity boys soccer team faced Rio Rancho at home.

Last year the clash between the then two top ranked teams in the state was the best game of the regular season. This year both teams are again ranked near the top. With the Academy coming off a historically bad loss to Albuquerque High, this would be a telling match.

The game began with spirited play. The Academy controlled possession, moving the ball through both the defense and the midfield, but struggled to get dangerous shots on net. Rio Rancho showed clear talent and the ability to get forward but most attacks were quickly defused by goalie Ryan O’Malia ’17 and the defense. After another foray against the Rio Rancho goal, the Academy earned a corner kick. The resulting cross to the back post was headed back across the goal mouth by Alex Touche ’17 where Hardy Stone ’18 nodded the ball into the back of the net. The half ended with just the one goal.

In the second, the team was determined to finish more opportunities and the restart boded well. The players were aggressive and the scoring started early in the frame. Alex got his second assist when he sent his brother, Charles Touche ’17, behind the defense. 2-0. Then, instead of Rio Rancho giving up, they redoubled their attack and the efficient Academy defense couldn’t clear the ball. First Rio Rancho scored with a man at the far post and then a second time when a partially cleared ball was looped back in and three Rio Rancho players ran free into the box. The score was knotted and the game became a tense, back and forth affair. The Academy needed to break through again.

After a foul twenty-five yards from the Rio Rancho goal, Charles stepped up and curled a lovely free kick around the defensive wall and past the outstretched fingers of the diving keeper and into the far wall of the net. It was a gorgeous goal, clearly the best of the season. The team and the fans exhaled as order had been restored. The Academy pressed on, finding more ways forward. At one point, Tai Durell ’19 laced a cross too far, sailing over the goal. Owen Keleher ’18 tracked it down inches from the end line and turned to find himself trapped by a defender. Owen calmly surveyed the situation and decided to play the ball through the defender’s legs and sprint around him. Still stuck at an acute angle, Owen would need to pass the ball back through the congested goal mouth. Instead he drilled a laser that somehow exploded past the keeper and just inside near post. Charles’ best-of-the-season goal had been surpassed in a mere handful of minutes.

Unfortunately, the Academy would need that insurance goal as they allowed yet another sloppy tally with time running down, when Rio Rancho’s excellent center defender marauded forward. There was a lot to like in Albuquerque Academy’s 4-3 win, but there were concerning echoes of their previous loss. After allowing six goals in their first nine games, the team had allowed eight in their last two.

The Chargers are now 8-2-1, with one game left before district play begins.