Prep Soccer: Gadsden Panthers Rise; Santa Teresa Dominates the Districts

Fall soccer in 2025 illustrated the dynamic nature of prep athletics, where past champions face new challengers, and unsung programs quietly make their mark. In Class 5A, the Gadsden Panthers surged to the top of the boys’ district, while last year’s powerhouse Centennial Hawks navigated a season of transition, and the Mayfield Trojans earned their first Neighbors Cup points. On the girls’ side, Organ Mountain claimed district honors, with Centennial and Gadsden rounding out the top three. Across the mid-sized and small-school divisions, Santa Teresa captured district championships for both boys and girls, proving that excellence can thrive outside the media spotlight. Meanwhile, Hatch Valley’s Bears demonstrated competitive spirit and resilience despite limited resources. From the dominant to the overlooked, this season showed that rankings and points tell only part of the story—the teamwork, perseverance, and dedication of these student-athletes defined the spirit of prep soccer in our broader community.

Neighbors Cup Points by School

• Gadsden Panthers: Boys – 3 points, Girls – 1 point
• Centennial Hawks: Boys – 2 points, Girls – 2 points
• Mayfield Trojans: Boys – 1 point
• Organ Mountain Knights: Girls – 3 points
• Santa Teresa Desert Warriors: Boys – 3 points, Girls – 3 points
• Chaparral Lobos: Boys – 1 point
• Hatch Valley Bears: Boys – 2 points, Girls – 2 points

Class 5A: Shuffled Decks with New Centers of Gravity

The Class 5A soccer landscape this fall was defined by swift reversals of fortune, shifting hierarchies, and the emergence of new frontrunners. One year removed from a dominant state championship run, the Centennial Hawks entered the season facing a much steeper climb. Their head coach stepped aside for health reasons, and their Gatorade New Mexico Player of the Year graduated—a double blow that would test even the most stable program.

After running the table last year, Centennial found themselves looking up at a resurgent Gadsden squad that refused to yield ground. While Panther football was busy reviving Friday nights at Sal Gonzalez Stadium—and wrestling with the politics of a difficult district alignment—Gadsden’s boys soccer program was quietly authoring its own breakthrough story within a more traditionally structured district. Game by game, the Panthers played their way into the top spot, seizing the district title and earning the full three Neighbors Cup points.

Gadsden Panthers Boys Soccer… Distrcit 3/5A Champs (Photo Courtesy Gadsdent Independent School District via Facebook)

Centennial, to their credit, stabilized enough to secure second place and two Neighbors Cup points. Mayfield, after several seasons of rebuilding, finally cracked into the standings with a third-place finish—good for their first point of the fall campaign.

But the biggest twist came when the state tournament bracket dropped. The opening-round matchup?

Gadsden vs. Centennial—Part III.

After losing both district meetings, the Hawks flipped the script, knocking the Panthers out in round one and ending Gadsden’s dream of turning their district title into a deep postseason run. Centennial then pushed eventual state runner-up Rio Rancho to a shootout in round two—fittingly symbolic of a season defined by grit and recalibration.

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On the girls’ side of Class 5A, the Organ Mountain Knights claimed the title and the full three Neighbors Cup points, followed by Centennial with two, and Gadsden securing third and one point. While all three programs earned postseason berths, only 3/5A champions Organ Mountain advanced past the first round. In the end, no state championships were to be had by local teams this year, not in this class, or in any other.

Yet the most striking storyline belonged to Las Cruces. One season after going 10–0 in district and reaching the state title match, the Bulldawgs struggled to gain traction and ultimately did not climb above .500. Their sudden slide—mirroring Centennial’s shift on the boys’ side—served as a reminder of how quickly the balance of power can tilt in prep soccer, and how little guarantees from one season carry into the next.

Class 4A: Santa Teresa’s Quiet Brilliance in a Loud Sports Landscape

One school playing one sport has come to embody how easily our broader community overlooks its own greatest achievements in favor of what is familiar, convenient, or loudly celebrated. In an era where local media routinely elevates big-school standouts—sometimes with the sheen of “Name, Image, and Likeness” inevitability—Santa Teresa High School has quietly built a culture of excellence that deserves far more attention than it receives.

This fall, the Desert Warriors delivered one of the most complete soccer performances our region has seen in years: a matched pair of district championships, earned by both the Boys and Girls programs in District 3/4A. Each title carried 3 Neighbors Cup points, the kind of double-crown achievement that would dominate headlines in most communities. Here, it hardly made a ripple.

Santa Teresa Desert Warriors Boys Soccer… District 3/4A Champs (Photo Courtesy Gadsden Independent School District via Facebook)

The Santa Teresa Boys didn’t just rule their district—they proved themselves against the very best of the area’s so-called “big-school” class. In pre-district play, they defeated Gadsden 1–0 and Centennial 2–0, the top two teams from Class 5A. Once in district action, they controlled nearly every match before falling only once—to fierce rival Chaparral, in a game where rivalry dynamics defy every algorithm built to explain outcomes. (Chaparral’s win ultimately earned the Lobos 1 Neighbors Cup point with a third-place finish, a reminder that rivalry games have their own gravitational pull.)

The Warriors’ postseason run ended in heartbreak—a shootout loss to Albuquerque Academy in the state semifinals—but this team was worthy of much more praise than they received. Their blend of physicality, discipline, and tactical intelligence placed them among the state’s elite, whether or not the spotlight followed.

Photos: Courtesy STHS Girls Soccer (via Facebook)

The Girls’ side mirrored the Boys’ success, winning their own District 3/4A title to secure another 3 Neighbors Cup points for Santa Teresa. They were less dominant against up-class opponents, but within their competitive landscape, they were unquestioned champions. Their state tournament concluded in the second round—also against Albuquerque Academy—but the accomplishment of dual district titles remains one of the most impressive achievements of the fall sports season.

In a community where big-school results too often overshadow small-school success, Santa Teresa’s accomplishment stands out even more starkly. They are, in many ways, the middle child of local athletics—consistently excellent, consistently overlooked. Nowhere is this more evident than in the story of Luis Barraza, the starting goalkeeper for D.C. United in Major League Soccer, a professional athlete who grew up playing on the same fields, under the same desert sun, in the same Santa Teresa program. In most regions, a homegrown MLS starter would be a household name. Here, Barraza remains virtually unknown.

Photo: Luis Barraza, Goalie, DC United. (Courtesy DC United, MLS)

Santa Teresa’s fall soccer season is a reminder that greatness grows everywhere—not just where the crowds are biggest or the cameras most frequently pointed. Their success is a testament to culture, consistency, and community pride that deserves to be seen, acknowledged, and celebrated.

Class A–3A: Competing in the Gaps

For Hatch Valley, the 2025 soccer season underscored a truth often felt most acutely in the small-school divisions: success is not always measured by trophies, and sometimes progress looks like persistence in the face of a competitive landscape built on uneven ground.

In a combined-class, combined-district structure (A/3A, District 3/4 on the Boys’ side and 3/4/5 on the Girls’), Hatch Valley stepped into an environment where depth, enrollment, and long-established programs shape the standings as much as talent or preparation. The Bears’ Boys team battled their way to a 5–3 district record and earned 2 Neighbors Cup points for a hard-fought second-place finish—an achievement that reflects both competence and grit in a district where every match feels like a step up in class.

The Girls team found themselves in an even more unusual competitive structure: a four-team district spanning three classes where the mathematics of competition sometimes outweigh the scoreboard. Though the Bears finished 0–2 in district play (no district wins, 6–11–1 overall), they still secured second place and 2 Neighbors Cup points—an outcome that highlights one of the paradoxes of small-school sports: standings do not always mirror experience, and effort does not always align neatly with the rewards.

Neither Hatch Valley squad qualified for the Class A–3A state tournament, but their story is not one of failure—it’s one of endurance. In the smallest divisions, programs are often rebuilding year by year, roster by roster, athlete by athlete. Success is incremental, found in close games, in moments of improvement, and in the willingness to keep showing up against opponents with deeper benches and broader pipelines.

If the broader community is learning anything from its fall sports season, it’s that excellence looks different at every level. And in Hatch Valley, excellence began with competing—honestly, consistently, and with a determination that deserves notice, even when the standings don’t fully reflect the work.

The 2025 Fall Soccer season reminds us that success in prep athletics comes in many forms. From the Gadsden Panthers claiming top honors in Class 5A, to Santa Teresa’s district sweep, and Hatch Valley persevering against the odds, every team demonstrated dedication, resilience, and teamwork. While points and rankings tell part of the story, the true measure of the season lies in the spirit of the players and the communities that support them. These student-athletes carried themselves with pride, overcame challenges, and left an enduring mark on prep soccer in our broader community—a mark that will influence the next generation of players chasing their own goals.

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