There were plenty of places to witness an upset on Tuesday night, but the Marauders made sure Mitchell High School wasn’t one of them.
Propelled by a two-goal effort from leading scorer Salvador Santaella, 13th-seeded Mitchell beat the visiting 29th-seeded Academy 4-2 to advance to the quarterfinals of the boys’ Class 3A soccer state tournament.
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The visiting Wildcats knocked off fourth-seeded Salida in the opening round of the postseason and eyed a second underdog win on Tuesday.
Santaella and the Marauders dashed their aspirations early on.
The Mitchell senior striker stole the ball from an academy defender near the 18-yard box and put a shot on goal that was saved by Wildcats keeper Oziel Garcia.
Marauders junior forward Miguel Villada was there for the put-back off the rebound, however, giving the host an early advantage.
In the 16th minute, Santaella staved off a defender and found fellow striker Jorge Espinal for a chance in the box, but Garcia came up with a save. A minute later, Mitchell threatened again and Santaella scored to double his team’s lead.
His second goal of the evening and 25th of the season came when he scored in the 69th minute to round out the scoring for Mitchell, again finding time and space to take a shot despite the presence of a defender.
“I’m just trying to play my game, watching the space, watching the players,” Santaella said of his mindset in the attacking third. “I was born like that. I have been playing all my life since I was in Venezuela when I was 2 years old.”
Down two goals, the Wildcats pressed Mitchell for the remainder of the first half. They were rewarded in the 33rd minute as Lukas Bacher scored for the visitors.
Mitchell’s Jorge Valdez Espinal controls the ball while being defended by The Academy’s Leo Gomez (right) during a game at Mitchell High School on Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026. (Jerilee Bennett, The Gazette)
But Mitchell matched The Academy’s intensity following halftime, and Espinal put the game out of reach for the Wildcats in the 51st minute, making the most of a long cross into the box.
The Marauders play two-way ball, and the energy they showed in the front of their formation was present on the back line. Junior Juan Salazar, who made several defensive plays for Mitchell, said the team’s bond is the source of their strength and energy.
“We’re all a family. We’ve all been playing really well. We’re going to continue to make history with Mitchell and every day we’re working hard for it,” Salazar said via a translator. “I’m really proud of all the support that we’ve had. The people that come out and watch us and support us means a lot to us. We feel like a family.”
As far as making history, Mitchell coach Alex Dowdy said he is sure his team is doing something the record books will remember. He’s searched, and he can’t find the last time the Marauders won in the postseason, and now Mitchell has two such wins this year.
“I go back and look at all the modern records with MaxPreps and everything, and I’ve never seen a playoff win,” he said. “I heard from some alumni maybe 1981 had some good games. I try to go through all the stats and history of it, and I couldn’t find anything.
“I think as we move into what the school looks like now, how things have changed a lot, the demographics we have here, socioeconomic status. I mean 1981 to 2026 is totally different and these guys have a lot of adversity they have to deal with every day, every week, in their lives, both at school and outside of school. It took a lot of working the culture the right way to get a group that’s able to respond to adversity in the right way.”