As Alex Jackson stepped up for what could potentially be the decisive penalty kick in a marathon Class 4A championship game, he called upon a technique he learned exactly for these types of moments.
“Our coach calls it box breathing,” he said. “Just something she learned in the military where it’s four breaths in, hold it for four seconds, go out for four seconds, and then don’t breathe for four seconds. So that helps calm your nerves.”
And with that, Jackson fired a shot past St. Pius keeper Frank Barela to propel No. 2 Albuquerque Academy (19-3-1) to a 6-5 shootout victory over the top-seeded Sartans (19-4) in the Class 4A final at the UNM Soccer Complex on Saturday afternoon.