Saturday night was historic for New Mexico United’s Josh Suggs.

The eldest player on the club’s roster, the Las Cruces native recorded his 250th regular season appearance in the USL Championship and his 100th appearances overall for his home-state club.

And then with eight minutes to go, the youngest player on United’s roster in Alex Waggoner – a fellow New Mexican – ensured it would be a winning night for the side at Isotopes Park. As someone who had to pursue his professional path elsewhere for years before coming home to New Mexico upon United’s launch, it was an incredible scene.

“To see him score that goal, man, like, those moments,” said Suggs, “him and Cristian Nava, when they score goals, that’s like the proudest you'll ever see me on the field because it does matter. It feels like my kids. These are my people. These are New Mexicans. And to see him – to see his dream come to fruition on the soccer field, it makes me very proud.”

Waggoner’s second goal of his first campaign in the USL Championship came after he was left on the bench by Head Coach Eric Quill for the past two games. That didn’t mean the 18-year-old wasn’t active, though. Late last month, he got a chance to see action for New Mexico’s U-23 squad in USL League Two back at his high school stomping grounds of Santa Fe’s Ivan Head Stadium. He scored a pair of first-half goals to lead the side to a 4-0 victory, a reminder of the scoring touch that has brought him this far, this quickly.

While it’s a reality that for any young talent – even one as prodigious as Waggoner – progression won’t always be linear, the opportunity to remain in action when the First Team wasn’t calling showed the benefit of the League Two side’s presence with United’s structure.

Called on for the first time in the Championship since June 24, Waggoner delivered exactly what Quill and the side needed to maintain their upward momentum.

“I'm just extremely proud of him and that mentality, because it’s been a couple of games since he stepped on the field for us,” said Quill, who having coached numerous top talents in his time within the FC Dallas organization knows a thing or two about talent. “To come on and change the game like he did at his age says a tremendous amount about who he is as a player.”

Bringing the divide between two generations of New Mexican’s playing for United, Suggs now wants to guide Waggoner’s path to even greater success than that he has achieved as a pro.

“Wags – in a lot of ways – reminds me of me as a younger player and a kid and a man, and I’m hard on him,” said Suggs. “I’m really hard on him, maybe more than anybody because I was just telling him I have great expectations for him. Eric brought it up in the locker room – I let Wags have it two days ago in training because my expectations are for him to be great.

“If he’s not great, he’s going to hear it from me.”

Here are some of the other young players that stood out in the past week of action…

Erik McCue, El Paso Locomotive FC – The 22-year-old center back was strong once again as El Paso posted a shutout on the road at Monterey Bay F.C., winning 8 of 10 duels and winning 3 of 4 tackles.

Jackson Hopkins, Loudoun United FC – The 18-yearold scored the opening goal in Loudoun’s comeback win against Hartford Athletic last Monday and completed 35 of 43 passes across two appearances in the week.

Rida Zouhir, San Antonio FC – The 19-year-old continued to be tidy in the center of midfield for SAFC, notching an assist in its 4-0 win at Memphis 901 FC and completing 9 of 11 passes while winning 5 of 10 duels.

Azriel Gonzalez, Las Vegas Lights FC – The hometown kid put home a memorable finish on the Fourth of July to earn Las Vegas a 2-2 draw with New Mexico United, while also completing 10 of 11 passes after coming on as a substitute.

Elijah Wynder, Louisville City FC – A first goal of the season should be coming soon for the 20-year-old, who still did a lot of good work on the defensive side of the ball with 10 recoveries and two interceptions while winning 6 of 9 duels against Loudoun United.