ALBUQUERQUE — Ryan Dunham is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.

Three times a week for the duration of the 2009 boys soccer season, Dunham and his Los Alamos Hilltoppers practiced penalty kicks, just in case they met a shootout situation. The hundreds of shots the goalkeeper faced — and mostly missed — prepared him for a moment of a lifetime.

So as the clock wound down Friday in the second overtime of their Class AAAA Boys State Soccer Tournament semifinal match with Piedra Vista at the Albuquerque Public Schools Soccer Complex, Dunham was ready for what came next.

It was his stop of Panthers midfielder Cory Blackwater's shot on the second round of kicks that proved to be as golden as the uniform he wore in the net. When Chase Havemann buried Los Alamos' fourth straight penalty shot into the net for a 4-2 advantage and a 2-1 win, the fifth-seeded Hilltoppers (17-6) finally reached a pinnacle that eluded them for the last six years — the finals, with an 11 a.m. battle today against No. 3 Farmington for the blue trophy.

And those very Hilltoppers could take credit for Dunham's performance in the most intense situation of the year.

"At the end of P K practice, I'm like, 'God, they put so many in, but they're great shooters,' " Dunham said. "I always think that if I stop a few of their shots, I can stop anybody."

His block of Blackwater's attempt to his left was the first of two straight misses for the Panthers, who were state semifinalists after their near-miraculous upset of seven-time champion Albuquerque St. Pius X on Thursday.

Fullback Ray DeKay followed Blackwater by sailing Piedra Vista's third shot 10 feet over the goal. Los Alamos, though, was perfect through the line of Andy Thoma, David Wyman, Nicholas Castaño and Havemann.

Havemann said when he lined up against Panthers 'keeper July Shay, he remembered the words a 'keeper friend of his told him.

"He said the 'keeper always looks at where your eyes are looking," Havemann said. "So I kept looking left and sneaked small glances."

When his foot met the ball, Shay dove left. But Havemann was aiming to the right and a wide-open goal welcomed the ball home.

Soon a sea of white — except for the yellow-clad Dunham — flooded him.

"It's amazing to think about it — we're going to the finals," Havemann said. "We've broken this five-year curse of just going to the semis. We're gonna win state. That's all we care about. But it's nice that we got to the finals."

The path to state was supposed to be blocked by the top-seeded Sartans — who had played for the last 16 state championships in AAA and AAAA — but they were nowhere near the pitch for first touch.

Instead, it was a familiar foe in the Panthers, who had lost 4-3 and 1-0 to the Hilltoppers in the regular season. The teams' familiarity with each other led to a tight defensive struggle that was punctuated by only two scores.

Los Alamos opened the scoring in the 49th minute, thanks to Piedra Vista fullback Jesse Woods' foul of Paul Hemez in the penalty box. The penalty kick call led to Thoma's score.

Piedra Vista (15-7) was without leading scorer Shane Woodson, who was serving a one-match suspension for earning a red card against the Sartans, but it found momentum and began counterattacking in the 60th minute. Alejandro Muñoz had a shot blocked by Hilltoppers defender Chris Montoya and a header stopped by Los Alamos' other 'keeper, Oliver Funston.

But Funston couldn't stop the Panthers on a corner kick in the 64th minute, when Blackwater found Muñoz for a header that floated into the left side of the goal for 1-all.

"We were working hard, we were setting up these plays," Piedra Vista head coach Carlos Yilescas said. "We were working free kicks, corners. We knew that in close games, (scoring) can be done that way."

After that, defense reigned supreme.

"Our defense played very well," Los Alamos head coach Evan Gartz said. "We had to watch out for their number 10 (Muñoz), and we did a good job. We just didn't mark them on the corner kick. But we found a way to win and I am proud of our kids."

When the Hilltoppers and Farmington finish today, a new champion will reign supreme in AAAA. And the shackles of Sartans dominance will be gone, at least for this season.

Good riddance, say the Hilltoppers.

"It's just amazing to know their reign is done," Havemann said. "Other people can beat them. If you saw yesterday after (losing to the Panthers), they were kind of almost fighting Piedra Vista, just because they don't know how to lose. And that just shows no class.

"And it's nice to know they can lose."

That was the one thing the Hilltoppers weren't prepared for this week.

For photos from Friday’s state soccer tournament matches, go to http://tinyurl.com/yfezlql



Contact James Barron at 986-3045 or jbarron@sfnewmexican.com. Read his blog, the Read Barron, at thereadbarron.com.