The Striker FC 96 team has been working towards their goal of winning the NM State Cup for the past three years.  The team is made up of players from El Paso, Texas, Sunland Park, Anthony and Las Cruces, New Mexico.  In their first year of eligibility the team had an up and down road to the state title.  During the first weekend of competition they found themselves in a tough battle with NM Rush Nike from Albuquerque and played to 1-1 tie.  The Strikers out shot Rush Nike but struggled finding the back of the net.  With three and a half minutes remaining Nathan Thompson scored the tying goal on a pass combination from Joseph Vasquez and Moises Rodriguez.  Unfortunately on the play Nathan suffered a broken leg on a tackle by the goalkeeper.  The second game of the weekend provided little challenge as the Strikers easily defeated Rio Vista FC Atlantis from Albuquerque 8-0.

The second weekend of competition once agian had Striker FC 96 struggling in the first game.  The opponent was the Rio Vista FC Roadkill of Albuquerque.  The Roadkill played a very good game as they were the more aggressive team and created more scoring opportunities.  The boys played hard but were unable to find any rhythm and were fortunate to come away with a 2-2 tie.  The second game of the weekend against NM Rush Swoosh of Albuquerque ended with a 6-1 win for the Strikers.  The boys played well enough to get the win but missed several good scoring chances.

The final weekend of competiton featured the game of the tournament, Rio Vista FC Reds from Albuquerque against the Striker FC 96 from Las Cruces.  Both teams expected to play each other for the championship but instead met in the semi-finals.  The game was a very hard fought respectful game among players.  The Reds scored first and missed another couple of point blank shots off the top of the goal.  Striker FC 96 hung tough and continued to apply pressure throughout the first half and trailed 1-0.  The second half was dominated by the Strikers for the first twenty minutes as they kept the ball on the Reds half of the field.  Brandon Bautista scored the tying goal on a header from a cross by Aaron Herrera to the middle of the six yard box.  A short time later Moises Rodriguez took a free kick which the goalkeeper deflected and Brandon scored the second goal of the half on the put back.  The game ended at 2-1 for the Strikers, awesome game.  The championship game featured a rematch with the Rio Vista FC Roadkill.  The boys had fought hard and overcame some tough luck and poor play to reach this game.  The game was a disciplined, aggressive game with Moises Rodriguez scoring four goals and Aaron Herrera scoring one goal.  The boys wanted to make up for their poor play the weekend before and prove they deserved to be champions.  Striker FC 96 (5) vs Rio Vista FC Roadkill (1).  The goal which started for seven players three years ago and with the help from new members to the Striker FC 96 family has been accomplished.