Demon Boys Soccer is on its way to the 5-A Fuddruckers Boys State Championship Semifinals after beating La Cueva 2-1 in sudden death double overtime on Oct. 29 at the APS soccer complex. 

The scoring kicked off early when Pablo Canivell, a Spanish exchange student attending Santa Fe High this year, swooped in with a side volley off a corner kick in the sixth minute of the game.  It was Pablo’s 13th goal of the year.

The game stayed at a 1-0 Demon lead until the fifth minute in the second half when La Cueva’s John Mee headed the ball past the Demon goalie Henry Kutcha to tie the game. Then both teams had chances but neither could capitalize in the remaining 36 minutes of regulation play.

The teams then played two ten-minute overtimes and, in the 95th minute of the game, Pablo sent a curling free kick past Bears’ goalie Mateo Nobrega into the right lower corner of the net. 

This win sends the Demons into back-to-back semi-final berths for the first time in 50 years.

This year’s opponent in the semifinal will be the Las Cruces Centennial Hawks, who are the number-2 ranked team in the state. The Hawks have a 19-0-1 record, and the Demons trek south to play them on Nov. 2 in Las Cruces.

The Demons beat the Hawks in a pre-season exhibition game 2-0 on July 16, in Santa Fe, although neither team had their full varsity rosters playing at that time.

Photos and videos by Nicole Miceli.

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