Warriors soccer already has more wins than 2022

Ivan Giron provided the Warriors’ lone goal against Bosque.
Russell Huffman | El Defensor Chieftain

With just five games under their belts, the Warriors soccer team already has one more win than last season, with a 3-2 mark in 2023.

Socorro won only two matches last season, and both of those victories came against Gallup, but things have changed with a more experienced squad taking the field, and the maturity has been showing early.

The Warriors soccer team is off to a great start after a competitive match against Bosque, which shut out Socorro last year.

“I feel good about it. You know, we didn’t know how the season was going to pan out. So, after being beaten 10-0 last year and being competitive this year, I’m pretty optimistic about how things will be for the rest of the season. I’m actually pretty happy. I think we’re going to get some wins.” Coach Daniel Sanchez said.

Despite allowing three scores, Socorro goalkeeper Daniel Leon had a masterful performance as he turned away shot after shot.

“I thought we played pretty good. I think maybe we had a few defensive lapses. But other than that, I think we played pretty solid, and obviously, our goalie held us in the game. The guy had incredible saves, and he’s an absolute natural as far as stopping the ball,” Sanchez said.

The Warrior got their lone goal from Ivan Giron when he popped in a shot that first bounced off the crossbar before flicking it past the Bosque goalkeeper.

Now that the Warriors have already exceeded their win total from last season, there are bigger and better things on Sanchez’s mind.

“We know we’re going to win some games this year, but we want to beat some of these big teams. We want to beat some of the ranked teams that have the club players – we want to be ranked, too,” Sanchez said.

Things look good so far, with the Warriors having notched a 7-0 win against District 3-3A rival Hot Springs.

The Warriors will get a chance to add to their totals with two games this week at home against Robertson (4-0) on Thursday at 4 p.m. and Saturday in an 11 a.m. game against Rehoboth Christian.

The 2023 Warriors varsity roster has settled in with Isaiah Trujillo, David Kracke, Connor Johnston, Daniel Leon, Damien Leon, Angel Licano Mijares, Billy Hufft, Julian Hinojosa, Rylan Hicks, Braden Mounyo, Javier Leon, Kyle Berger, Ben Watkins, Derek Acosta, Ivan Giron, Sebastian Mercado, Stever Baca, Antonio Chavez, Hector Leon and Aiden Masterson.