Runners 3rd quarter rally falls short against the Bombers

Rio Rancho, NM -The New Mexico Runners ended their season opening homestand with a Sunday night matchup with Amarillo falling 14-10 to the Bombers at the Rio Rancho Event Center.

The Runners would fall behind the 8 ball early, conceding a goal to David Trevizo in the first minute of the match. New Mexico responded with team captain and four year starter Froilan Ramirez scoring midway through the first. Amarillo ended the quarter with a pair of goals from midfielders Benji Monreal and Jorge Gonzales to take a 3-1 lead after one.

The second quarter began with Trevizo colliding into defender Colton Oord drawing a blue card penalty. The Runners capitalized on this opportunity with Benji Rogers recording his first career goal finding the open net on the penalty. Amarillo would score two unanswered goals once again, with Monreal completing the hattrick before halftime. Colton Oord broke the Runners dryspell just after the three minute mark, but another strike from the leg of Monreal put the Bombers up 6-3 at the half.

Amarillo struck instantly out of the break, with Miguel Reyes finding Alan Valenzuela to extend their lead to four. The Runners answered with three goals from Austin Snider, Jaime "Chiva" Rodriguez, and Vince Aragon that would put them within one score of Amarillo with six minutes to go in the third frame. The Bombers ended their scoring drought with two late third quarter goals to take a three goal leading heading into the final quarter.

Vince Aragon helped the Runners chip into Amarillo's lead, with a goal to start the fourth, but Amarillo quickly responded with a goal of their own. Moments later, Nicholas Legendre would trim the Bombers lead back to two, scoring his first goal of the season. Aragon finished with a game high hattrick followed closely by Legendre with the deuce. Amarillo would then go on a 4-0 run, including one after the Runners goalkeeper change midway through the quarter. It wasn't until another Aragon goal would end the Runners scoring drought, and Nick Legendre would score again in the final minute, marking the Runners first double digit scoring performance of season five.

New Mexico will be on the road the next two weeks travelling to Wichita and Amarillo to face the Kansas Bandits and rematch against the Amarillo Bombers. The Runners will be back in action at the Rio Rancho Event Center on January 28th at 3:05pm MST taking on the Kansas Bandits.