The reactions were all different.
Some laughed. Others shook their heads. A few more smiled.
They all meant the same answer to the same questions: So, does it ever get old? The state championships? The gold medals? The celebratory hugs? The festive photos? The postgame meals that only feature good times?
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“No, no,” coach Amy Fankam said with a combination of a head shake and a wide grin after Hope Christian’s 8-0 rout of St. Pius to win another Class 4A soccer title Friday at New Mexico’s soccer complex. “Absolutely not.”
“I think that the pressure mounts and it becomes a bit more of like, ‘Woah, thank goodness. We did it again.’ But for me, it’s more the pride in the girls and what they do and what they represent. That’s the part that never gets old.”
And Fankam’s latest group of players? Well, they made sure they capped the season with quite the performance.
Well … that’s the Class 4A girls soccer state championship game.
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One might say it was fairly one-sided.
Hope Christian 8, St. Pius 0. pic.twitter.com/Dcg4jv6QCg
— David Glovach (@DavidGlovach) November 7, 2026
Sophomore Brooklyn Fankam scored three times (in the 20th, 58th and 76th minutes). Junior Nikki Dountas contributed two goals (19th and 25th). Sophomore Mechi Garbarino (33rd), freshman Audrey Stockton (47th) and eighth-grader Brooklyn Sanchez (64th) chipped in a score apiece, too.
In all, it contributed to the most overall goals in a girls soccer championship game since Hope Christian’s 6-2 win over Sandia Prep for the A-3A tile in 2010. It was the largest margin of victory in a title match — boys or girls — in NMAA history and tied the association’s record for most goals scored by a single team regardless of gender. The Santa Teresa boys beat Sandia Prep 8-1 for the A-3A championship in 2000.
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The NMAA sanctioned girls and boys soccer championships in 1981.
“It’s an awesome feeling and we have an amazing team,” Brooklyn Fankam said. “I think we are blessed to enjoy each and every one of our wins and we’re just so grateful for each time we get to go home with a win.”
But more important than the final result was what it represented.
Friday’s victory marked Hope Christian’s sixth straight title — good for fourth all-time in the state and 11th overall — in seven consecutive final appearances. It’s the third time in that stretch the Huskies (24-0) went through their season undefeated. They outscored their opponents by a combined 189-2 and conceded no scores over their final 17 matches.
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St. Pius (19-3-2), meanwhile, was trying to win a state championship in the same season as its boys program for the sixth time. The programs last accomplished the feat in 2007. The Sartans boys beat Gadsden 2-0 on Thursday.
“Every single year we step up to the plate knowing that we have a target on our back and I think it raises us to a new level every year,” Dountas said. “We get to see the younger girls, these eight-graders step up. We get to see our seniors leading by example. That’s what makes the team so incredible.”
And even more so? The possibility of the next championship.
“Oh, I’m so hyped,” Dountas said. “I’ll be a senior next year, so I’m ready to go out with a bang.”
It doesn’t sound like that will get old, either.
