The buzz was real, and it turned into a statewide hum that not even a global pandemic could stifle. And there’s nothing more American than a whole tournament that’s based on meritocracy. “They love soccer and they love New Mexico, and they want to have a common rally point. “People had gravitated toward the team,” Trevisani explained. “We’re good enough and the whole world, or at least the country, knew that New Mexico was about more,” added Trevisani, a tireless advocate for the club he’s helped build.įor that Quarterfinal match, which New Mexico United eventually lost at eventual runners-up Minnesota United FC, the team chartered nearly 200 fans for a flight from Albuquerque. “The only thing that matters is the score at the end of the game, and when we went out and beat a couple of USL teams before we beat Colorado Rapids on the road, and we beat FC Dallas on the road, and we got through to the final eight, it was clear that we were just good at soccer. “When you’re in the Open Cup, nobody cares about where you’re from,” Trevisani said. Open Cup, New Mexico United bested two Major League Soccer franchises (Colorado Rapids and FC Dallas) on their way to a Quarterfinal appearance. In the club’s first appearance in the Lamar Hunt U.S. New Mexico United jumped into professional soccer in 2019 and immediately went to work leading the USL Championship in average attendance and selling out their primary home facility, Rio Grande Credit Union Field at Isotopes Park – nicknamed ‘The Lab’ – with 15,023 spectators on May 5, 2019. “We didn’t know what it was going to look like when we kicked a ball in the first game, but we really hoped it would be much more than soccer and something that would represent the community and be something that brought people together,” said the ever-energetic club CEO and President Peter Trevisani (pictured at the top of this story).Īnd just like the magic that sprinkles and settles on all New Mexicans in the golden hour of sunset, this football club was empowered by something almost mystical from the start.

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