Soccer Miners Wind up Season over Spring Fling

Photo: Senior Derek Lamppa takes a throw-in during the match against Ft. Lewis College.

The New Mexico Tech Miners soccer team finished their spring exhibition season by hosting a collegiate round-robbin tournament over Spring Fling weekend (April 17-18, 2004). The windy weather was far from perfect but soccer fans, consisting of Tech students and Socorro locals, came out in healthy number to cheer on the Miners during their double header.

The first game of the day featured the Miners and the visiting team from United World College (Montezuma, NM). The game was an interesting clash of styles. The UWC team, composed of young players from literally every corner of the Earth -- Italy, Paraguay, and Nigeria to name a few -- displayed periods of very good ball control, tricks and a couple of acrobatic shots on goal. The Miners, composed of players from every corner of New Mexico, presented their hard-hitting, physical style of play, which seemed to overwhelm the visiting internationals during the first half. Tech decisively won the possession game during the first half, and had a goal to show for it. Freshman Paul Dailey fired a rocket with a momentum that simply was too much for the UWC goalie.

For the last half, though, the UWC team seemed to find their second wind and some spirit. The Miners, due to overconfidence from the first period, appeared lazy and disorganized, unable to maintain possession or create opportunities at the goal. Perhaps frustrated with his team’s lack of effort, goal keeper Hahn Nguyen, who had switched positions at half time with first team goalie Don Bleeker, decided to instantly become a field player and dribble up field. When he finally got rid of the ball, his attempted pass went directly to the opposing team. The crafty UWC midfielder knew exactly what to do, quickly sighted in on the goal, and lofted a 60 yard shot into the empty net. Tempers flared on the Miners side, and they picked up the pace. With about five minutes left in the game, Pat Dailey finished another ball served up by freshman Jonathan Smith for the 2-1 win.

At 1 p.m., the two visiting teams matched up, UWC versus Ft. Lewis College, led by club president and Socorro High grad Justin Passelaqua. The UWC team, noticeably fatigued from its previous match, and playing without substitutions was now no match for the fresh team from Durango. The final score was tallied at 9 to 3 after numerous fouls and ejection of a discouraged UWC player.

Photo: Tech freshman Pat Dailey turns the corner, preparing to attack the Ft. Lewis squad. Dailey scored all three of the Miners’ goals on the day.

The stage was set for the final match of the day between the NMT home team and the Ft. Lewis club. It proved to be a very hard fought, physical and defensive battle. The Miners lost the coin toss, and had to go against the wind for the first half. Nonetheless, the Miner Men played well, and scored the first goal of the game. Once again it was Dailey, this time with an assist from defender Josh Lynch. The lead held strong until seconds before the halftime whistle. By now the winds had strengthened with gusts in excess of 50 mi/hr. The Miners just could not remove the ball from their end of the field, and Ft. Lewis was able to capitalize on conditions by finishing one to the net to tie the game.

As luck would have it, that was the last blast from the skies, and the wind quickly died down during the second half, relieving the burden for the visiting Ft. Lewis team. Both teams struggled to get the go-ahead goal, with chances at both ends. But (Senior) goal keeper Don Bleeker did an outstanding job in the box, recording several saves, and denying all shots on goal during his last half as a Miner. Outstanding defensive effort was also provided by (junior) Josh Lynch, but the Miners too were unable to score, leaving the game at a 1-1 tie. The two teams will get another chance to settle the score next season when the Miners travel to Durango to participate in a NIRSA tournament hosted by Ft. Lewis.

The tournament marked the end of a satisfying spring season for the Miners, going undefeated with a record of 2 wins and 2 ties in full-field exhibition games. The soccer Miners look forward to the Fall 2004 regular season, when they face conference foes including New Mexico State, University of Texas El Paso, University of Arizona, Arizona State, and Thunderbird College.

The Miners say farewell to four graduating seniors this year, Derek Lamppa (EE), Maurizeo Leo (CS, December grad), Don Bleeker (EE), and Collin Cochrin (CS), and one MS student, Abe Olefuko (PE, December). The soccer club would like to thank Derek for his dedication as Club president, Maurizeo (an original Miner) for his many years of excellent play, and Don Bleeker for his willingness to “keep the goal” during the 2003-2004 season.

You can check out the Miners’ news and events at http://www.nmt.edu/~soccer/.

-NMT-