STATE CHAMPS!

On Friday afternoon, the boys varsity soccer team headed to Bernalillo for the state championship game against a familiar foe in Los Alamos.

The Academy had defeated Los Alamos in the semi-finals of the Academy Invitational, but both teams had improved significantly since that early season encounter. There isn’t a lot of love lost between the two teams. The Academy has knocked Los Alamos out of the last three state tournaments—twice in the semi-finals and once in the finals—and the physical play of Los Alamos had sent two Academy players to the hospital in the first meeting this year. The day before, as the Academy tried to put away Santa Teresa in a semi-final match that went to overtime and then a shootout, the Los Alamos players wrapped up a convincing 7-0 win over Los Lunas, came over and sat right behind the Academy bench, and cheered loudly for Santa Teresa.

Los Alamos was not the team the Academy had expected to face when brackets were announced. After six straight years of being ranked number one going into the tournament, the Academy had slipped to number two as St. Pius X put together an outstanding regular season. In a sign of how hard and unpredictable the state tournament can be, Pius bowed out in the quarterfinals. The Academy rode a rollercoaster through the season, and through the tournament, to arrive at their sixth straight state title game in Coach Laney Kolek’s eight years at the helm of the program. After graduating talented players to NCAA Division I and Division III programs each of the last few years, this team boasted a mix of veterans and new faces who would almost all be asked to step into new roles. Aaron Hill ’19, the starter for the past four years at central back, is the only one who had consistently seen the field in the same role. Curtis McNary ’19, after he moved back to his left defensive spot midseason, also brought three years of starting experience to his position.

Throughout the season, this diverse group of young men had come together. The younger players were embraced, even as they took time from older players. Players who had important roles early in the season continued to train hard and mask their disappointment when new formations left them on the bench. While not as athletically imposing as previous powerhouse teams, there was something about the chemistry that had been brewing, the depth of talent, and the love of the game, that marked this team as capable of a post-season run. Coach Kolek pulled the team together before the kickoff and said, “We have not played our best game of the season yet. Let’s do it today.”

Right from the opening whistle, it was clear that the team had truly come together. The Academy took the opening kickoff down the field for a dangerous shot. A Los Alamos team that boasted two of the top scorers in the state and had not let in a goal all tournament looked toothless in the attack and overwhelmed on defense. The Academy kept the ball for long stretches of the half, passing through and around Los Alamos. Their star attacker—who had 43 goals on the season—first tried lining up on Curtis’ side, only to be shut down. He next tried the right side, but Ryan Sabol ’19—a midfielder who played out of position at defense all year—kept dispossessing him and sending the ball to Kenny Levandoski ‘19 who marauded down the flank—taking shots, sending crosses, and leading passes for Lucas Jepsen ’19 who’s pace left Los Alamos two steps behind.

Seventeen minutes in, after peppering the goal with more shots than Los Alamos would take all game, the Academy scored off a corner kick and a mad scramble. Aaron’s header hit the post, Kenny’s left footer at the near post was saved, and finally Neven Zapatka ’22 drove the ball into the left-hand bottom corner. Goal! 1-0. Minutes later, Kenny came down the wing again, sent a low cross that travelled through the defense to Trevor Dean ’20 on the far side of the field. Trevor crushed the ball with his first touch into the side netting. Goal! 2-0. The rest of the half was shot after shot (ten in all) with many more going wide, or high, or getting blocked by desperate defenders. The half ended with the score 2-0 and the Academy very unlucky to not have scored several more.

The second half opened with Los Alamos trying desperately to make a game of it. For ten minutes the battle for control of the midfield seesawed back and forth, but Jackson Taylor ’19—who had run for 100 minutes during the game the day before—continued his season long dominance. With Tai Durell ’19 and Nate Patton ’22, Jack helped the Academy regain control of the game and impose our style—possession and ball movement.

One hallmark of a Laney Kolek coached game is that there are very few substitutions, but this year, with injuries and changing formations, many players gained her confidence and as the half went on, she substituted fresh legs in as Los Alamos wore down. Twenty-three minutes into the second half, Coach Kolek substituted Case Manifold ’21 into the game. Two minutes later the team changed the field—passing from the right to the left—and Case received the ball in space. He dribbled half the field, beat the defender along the end line, and cut a nifty pass back to Oliver Kumar ’22 who easily slotted home the third goal of the day.

The game would end 3-0, although in many ways the outcome had been determined in the early minutes of the opening stanza. The 2018 Albuquerque Academy Chargers would stamp their name in the record books, earning the team’s third state title in the last four years. The season had started with the worst loss of Coach Kolek’s tenure, a 5-0 shellacking by eventual 5A state champions Cleveland. The season had begun to turn when the Academy beat that same Cleveland team in the finals of the Academy Invitational. Friday’s game would mark a complete turnaround in what must be considered the finest coaching job of Coach Kolek’s tenure.

Special note should also be made of the girls program. Later Friday afternoon, they three-peated as state champions following a remarkably similar path through the tournament as the boys. A 9-0 quarterfinal tune up. A tense semi-final that went to two overtimes and, on the strength of a last minute goal from Eliza Mariner ’19, narrowly avoided a shootout. In their final, the girls comfortably handled familiar foes Hope Christian. If there is a rival to Coach Kolek’s run of success, it has to be Coach Glidden’s. His teams have always ended the season with a state title during his time as head coach. Seriously. Every year.

Congratulations to these two fine coaches, the hard working student athletes, and the excellent programs they have inherited and perpetuated.