'Double Vision': Rams top Hawks in semifinal, both RR programs head to 'ship

Ram Magic: Girls rally in stoppage time to stun Hawks, head to state final

ALBUQUERQUE — Do you believe in magic?

RIO RANCHO — After a hard-fought semifinal match, the Rio Rancho coaches asked their team a question postgame.

“What are you guys doing on Saturday?”

Playing for a state title.

In a down-to-the-wire contest with Volcano Vista, the Rams’ second-half surge gave them the 2-0 victory and a trip back to the state championship for the first time since 2020.

“It feels great,” Rams senior striker Tanner Groves said after the match. “Making it to the finals, it’s just so exciting.”

Groves cashed in on the game-sealing score after sophomore Miguel Wong broke the scoring drought in the final 20 minutes of the match.

The Rams punched their ticket, but it didn’t come easy. Volcano Vista came out with purpose behind a fast-paced attack.

Hawks captain McKay Rogers and his fellow Volcano midfielders were all over the field, presenting some early work for Rams’ goalkeeper Kenneth Graves, who was excellent in the shutout effort.

It would take till the middle of the first half for the Rio Rancho attack to wake up, thanks to Graves and junior Daniel Lovato generating chances.

“The key on attack was to just keep pushing, make runs and choose your times to step into their box,” Groves said. “The time always comes; you just have to be patient.”

Patient they were, as the match headed into the half tied at zero. It felt as if the first team to score might be the winner in this one. The crowd murmured about another potential trip to penalty kicks, a situation the Rams found themselves in their quarterfinal win against Centennial last week.

The extra-time scenario was looking more and more likely until, with 16 minutes left in regulation, Wong found some open turf to fire off a shot on net ...

Off the keeper, off the post, off the keeper, into the net.

In a match where neither team could buy a goal, the Rams took the lead on an unfathomable series of bounces. This goal lit Ram Stadium on fire, as they rode that energy to the finish line.

“The feeling after taking that lead was amazing,” Groves said. “Knowing we could take that game home, we all got energetic and more motivated to keep pushing.”

RRHS’s state final berth also marks the first time in school history that both the boys and girls teams have advanced to the championship in the same season.

Now, the Rallyin’ Rams will head down to the University of New Mexico on Saturday for a championship meeting with the La Cueva Bears. One more win, and it’ll be the Rams’ second title in the last six seasons.

“We are all confident, and we have the energy and determination,” Groves said. “We are all motivated to go out and win that trophy.”