Carlos Benevidez faces down Cesar Torres in the 2022 NMT Spring Fling Miner Soccer tournament.
Submitted photos
The New Mexico Tech Soccer Miners were back in community action last Saturday for the annual NMT Spring Fling. Twelve teams registered for the 3v3 tournament for a day of friendly soccer competition.
An average of five players per team, together with supporting fans, meant close to 100 people gathered on the NMT athletic field to enjoy a day of soccer in the sun. Teams were a diverse mix of student and faculty Techies, young and old Socorro locals, and fútbol athletes from Albuquerque.
Socorro AYSO youth also competed in the NMT Spring Fling 3v3 tournament.
The local American Youth Soccer Organization (AYSO) “Orange Crush” was the obvious crowd favorite as they defeated the “Trashed Cans” in a nail-biting 6-5 victory to advance to the quarterfinals. But their road to victory was blocked by the UNM Lobo women’s club soccer team. Ultimately, it was NMT “Team Blanks” that took home the prize — tickets to an upcoming USL New Mexico United game — by defeating the “Ojos Locos” in the final game.
The NMT Miner Soccer teams are regrouping this spring off-season after two years of COVID limitations. The Miner Women split two friendly games against rivals UNM. The Miner Men have been very active, playing two away games at UNM and Grand Canyon University, and hosting three home games against Justice College, Grand Canyon University and the University of Texas El Paso. They are looking forward to the regular fall season in the NIRSA southwest region league, also including New Mexico State, University of Arizona, Arizona State and Northern Arizona. They hope to see and hear Socorro and Tech Miner sports fans on the sidelines.
