Demons get No. 1 overall seed in Class 5A
Oct. 25—The most successful soccer season in the history of Santa Fe High was given its just rewards by the New Mexico Activities Association on Sunday evening.
The school's boys program was handed the No. 1 overall seed for the Class 5A State Tournament, which begins with first-round games Tuesday and picks up later in the week with quarterfinal matchups.
The school's girls were given the No. 5
overall seed in their 5A bracket, giving them a home match Tuesday against No. 12 Las Cruces.
It's the highest seeding ever for both programs, a nod to each club finishing the regular season with identical 19-1 records capped with championships in District 5-5A. The 19 wins is a single-season school record for both teams and puts each in prime position for a deep postseason run.
The Santa Fe High boys feature one of the country's top players in Alex Waggoner, whose 65 goals and 146 points rank second nationally to Pennsylvania's Eben McIntyre, a senior who will play at Pitt next year. Waggoner's main man is Michael Wissman, a senior who leads the state in assists (36).
The Demons will skip Tuesday's opening round and face the winner of the Centennial-Volcano Vista matchup. All opening round, quarterfinal and semifinal matches are hosted by the higher seed, with the finals in all brackets played at UNM on Nov. 4-5.
Santa Fe High's girls had the best overall record in 5A but missed a bye that goes to the top four seeds. The Demons will travel to No. 4 Hobbs this weekend if they win Tuesday's match against Las Cruces.
The field in 1A-3A is loaded with Santa Fe clubs. Whereas the bracket for 5A and 4A are 12 teams each, the smaller schools are restricted to eight.
Santa Fe Prep's boys landed the No. 2 overall seed and will host No. 7 Monte del Sol (7-5) this weekend. The Blue Griffins (11-2-1) enter the tournament riding a 10-game winning streak, leaving them on the same side of the bracket as St. Michael's, the No. 6 seed.
The Horsemen (9-7-1) travel to No. 3 New Mexico Military Institute. The other side of the draw has No. 8 Tierra Encantada (7-5) at No. 1 Sandia Prep.
The 1A-3A girls draw has St. Michael's at No. 3 and hosting East Mountain. The defending champion Lady Horsemen (13-4) could potentially get a rematch of last year's finals in next week's semis since No. 2 Socorro is in line to meet the St. Michael's-East Mountain winner.
