Runners Win 1st in Franchise History, 11-10

by Andres Trujillo

Santa Fe, N.M. (January 19, 2019) – New Mexico’s first Major Arena Soccer League team has officially secured their first victory in franchise history. The New Mexico Runners defeated the Santa Fe Elite with an equalizer by a score of 11-10.

The Runners were looking for their first victory of the season and went into tonight’s game with a positive mentality.

It was the second road game of the season and the second matchup against the Santa Fe Elite.

The first quarter was hot out of the gate as Forward Miguel Garcia scored quickly in just 49 seconds with an assist from Jaime Rodriguez. The Runners would remain scoreless for the rest of the quarter and the first ended with a 3-1 Elite lead.

In the second quarter, it was pedal to the metal as the Runners managed to tack on 6 goals to take a 7-3 lead over the Elite. Luis Fernando Martinez kicked a laser to tie things up at 3-3 with 7:36 remaining in the second. Jacob Gandarilla would end up scoring 2 goals on his own while working together with Isaiah Madrid to ensure the Elite wouldn’t score.

It would be almost 10 minutes until the first goal of the third quarter was scored by James Urbany with 5:20 remaining. It was then 64 seconds later that Goalkeeper Casey Gasson would toss the ball from coast to coast and score. This marks the first time this season in the MASL2 a Goalkeeper managed to score by tossing the ball one end of the field to the other. The Elite would answer back and at the end of the third quarter and the score would be a 9-6 Runners lead. 

Madrid would start the fourth quarter strong with a nice goal in the corner pocket to extend the lead to 10-6. Luis Fernando Martinez would then give the Runners supplemental insurance coverage by adding one more. The Elite managed to go on a run scoring four goals and bringing the score to 11-10. The New Mexico Runners held off the Elite and secured their first victory in franchise history.

The New Mexico Runners are now 1-3 on the season.

Miguel Garcia, Jacob Gandarilla, Luis Fernando Martinez and Isaiah Madrid all had 2 goals with 1 assist on the night.

The Runners will return home against the Cuervos of Ciudad Juarez at the Santa Ana Star Center. The match-up will take place on Saturday January 26th, 2019 with a 5:05 PM kick-off at the Santa Ana Star Center (3001 Civic Center Circle Dr. NW, Rio Rancho, NM 87144). Tickets start at $10 and doors will open at 4:00 PM.

The New Mexico Runners are an arena soccer team based in Rio Rancho, NM and current members of Major Arena Soccer League M2 (MASL2). The Runners play their home games at Santa Ana Star Center and season tickets are on sale NOW by calling 505.663.7RUN (7786). For more information on the Runners, visit http://www.newmexicorunners.com as well as LIKE, FOLLOW and SHARE on social media at @nmrunners.

###