Seize the Day
Dayonn Harris (#5) sends New Mexico United to the USL Championship's Western Conference Finals with a 94th minute winner against Orange County SC.
Over the course of a 30-game season that meanders for eight long months, there will be slumps and hot streaks, and the wave of momentum will crest and break and crest once again.
It might be difficult now to remember the summer swoon of ‘25, where at one point New Mexico United secured just one win in ten league matches. The stretch was difficult enough that United worked to fortify their attacking options in late July, acquiring Valentin Noël (#21) and an international roster spot from Las Vegas Lights in exchange for McKinze Gaines (#10) and Anthony Herbert (#4). Cash also went in both directions in what turned out to be a fascinating jumble of three separate transactions.
A few short weeks later, Luiz Fernando (#9) was sold to Hanoi FC, a club in the top flight in Vietnam. Fernando had been brilliant for United, and while his move to Vietnam was well-earned, the loss of his attacking threat — his five goals at the time put him in a tie for the team lead — seemed like it would be extremely difficult to back-fill, even with the addition of Noël.
Enter Dayonn Harris (#5).
Harris, as you may recall, tore his ACL in August of 2024 and faced a long road of rehabilitation to recovery. He missed the first 19 matches of league play this season and United’s lone appearance in the U.S. Open Cup. He also missed three of the first four games in the inaugural USL Jägermeister Cup, but the one he played in was a doozy.
On July 26th, he made his season debut, coming on in the 72nd minute in a thrilling match against San Antonio FC in the aforementioned Jägermeister Cup. Trailing 2-0, Valentin Noël would open his United account with a goal in the 92nd minute (the first Noël!), and Dayonn Harris would send the traveling supporters into a state of delirium in the 99th minute when he would get his first goal in over a year with an athletic and acrobatic first-time volley at the death.
If this game was Dayonn Harris announcing that he was back, then that goal was the exclamation point.
As the team now sits just two small but massively difficult wins away from their first piece of silverware, I think it’s instructive to look at when the pendulum of good fortune began to swing back in United’s direction, and it dovetails pretty perfectly with the gradual re-introduction of Dayonn Harris to the first team. Going back to the September 9th win against Sacramento — the first appearance back that Harris logged more than 45 minutes — United has won eight (including the playoffs), drawn three and lost just once (against Tulsa, naturally).
At Wednesday’s press conference, I asked Coach Sanchez (happy birthday, Dennis!) about the importance of having Harris back in the fold. Here was his response:
As good as Harris has been since his return, the team’s resurgence and current form cannot be attributed to just one person or one element. There was a lot of personnel turnover at the time of the summer slump, and I asked Sanchez how much of the good performance that we’ve been witnessing recently can be attributed to all these new faces simply settling in.
Here’s Coach Sanchez:
#TrustTheProcess
Tulsa Kings of Chaos 👑
This Substack is a lot of things, but one thing it’s not is breaking news. At this point, I think we all know that Dayonn Harris rifled home the winner against Orange County in the 94th minute, his goal combining with Greg Hurst’s 49th minute goal to lift United to a 2-1 win, graciously sparing us all from having to endure penalty kicks and all the stress and hair-graying that comes with it.
The win propelled New Mexico to their first-ever Conference Final, a dicey matchup that will see them head to Oklahoma to face FC Tulsa this Saturday, November 15th. Tulsa is a great team; they were third-best in the entire league on points and are the highest seed remaining in the 2025 playoffs. FC Tulsa beat New Mexico 5-2 in Tulsa on August 9th, and again here in Albuquerque by a score of 1-nil on September 13th.
The August match arguably marked the low-point of the season for United. On the back of a humiliating 4-0 defeat at Hartford — a loss that prompted Coach Sanchez to promote Kris Shakes (#13) to first-choice keeper — United took a 2-1 lead into halftime at Tulsa before allowing three goals in the first 8 minutes after the restart. United would not recover.
The rematch in Albuquerque was a much tighter affair. New Mexico controlled possession as New Mexico does: 69% to Tulsa’s 31%. While the stat sheet relays only one shot on target for New Mexico (Ousman Jabang (#15) hit the crossbar in the 80th minute), United had lots of almost chances with Will Seymore (#16), Zico Bailey (#19) and Mukwelle Akale (#11) all firing just wide of the frame. Greg Hurst (#17) had two tantalizingly close chances that just sailed high and wide, respectively.
While Kris Shakes first start against Tulsa was admittedly rocky, the second time he faced them he was excellent. It took an unfortunate own goal off a dreaded long throw in the 91st minute to better United on that otherwise joyous Meow Wolf Night.
I asked Coach Sanchez to talk about those two games and the difference between those New Mexico United teams and the one playing in the Conference Final this Saturday:
I am admittedly (and laughably) blinded by my biases regarding this team, but I do agree with Coach Sanchez that the squad that faltered in Tulsa in August does not remotely resemble the one we’ve enjoyed watching the last 15 or so matches. Tulsa is an extremely formidable opponent and the pressure will, no doubt, be high. But as Coach said this week at the press conference, “Pressure is a privilege,” and so it is my hope for New Mexico United that they meet this moment of privilege with bravery, composure and resolve, with a healthy side of childlike exuberance.
Play the game you love and leave it all on the field, lads. We’ll be right behind you the whole way.
That’s it for this post. If you’re headed to Tulsa, travel safe and scream your damn heads off. See you there and let’s keep this beautiful thing rolling. Somos Unidos.