Aztec Men's Soccer Bulldoze Passed Arizona Western College; Cosgrove Gets Win No. 299
The Pima Community College men's soccer team (16-3-1, 16-3-1 in ACCAC) took control from the get-go on Thursday as the Aztecs closed out the regular season at Kino North Stadium.
The No. 12 ranked Aztecs secured the upset in dominating fashion as they beat No. 6 ranked Arizona Western College (14-2-3, 14-2-3) 6-0. The Aztecs will be the No. 2 seed for the Region I, Division I tournament next week.
The win also secured win No. 299 for head coach David Cosgrove.
Sophomore Hector Banegas (Rincon HS) scored two goals as fellow sophomore Carlo Valadez-Paz (Westview HS) and freshman AJ Valenzuela (Desert View HS) each had a goal and an assist. Freshman Chris Cooper (University HS) had two assists in the game.
The Aztecs shared the goal-scoring in the first half as Banegas put Pima on the board with a breakaway goal in the 3rd minute. Freshman Julian Gaona (Tucson Magnet HS) hit a shot to the right of the Matador keeper as Cooper produced the cross-pass assist in the 12th minute. Freshman Gavino Carranza (Salpointe Catholic HS) scored on a free kick in the 17th minute as the Aztecs took a 3-0 lead at halftime.
The Aztecs continued the pressure and scored three minutes into the second half as Valenzuela hit a shot with an assist from Valadez-Paz in the 48th minute. Valenzuela assisted in Banegas' second goal in the 65th minute to make it 5-0. Valadez-Paz put the exclamation point on the game with his goal in the 78th minute with an assist from Cooper.
The Pima defense shut down the Matadors as it allowed one shot on goal for the game. Sophomore goalkeeper Taylor Anderson (Salpointe Catholic HS) finished with one save. Fellow sophomore keeper James McWilliams (Sahuaro HS) played the final 21 minutes and had no saves.
The Aztecs and the Matadors played to a 0-0 tie last month in Yuma.
The Aztecs will have a bye to the Region I, Division I tournament semifinal round. They will host the winner of Monday's No. 3 vs. No. 6 seed quarterfinal match-up. The semifinal game will be on Thursday, Oct. 27 at Kino North Stadium. Game time will be set for 6:00 p.m. Brackets will be released on Sunday.
Pima goals: Banegas 3rd minute; Gaona (Cooper) 12th minute; Carranza 17th minute; Valenzuela (Valadez-Paz) 48th minute; Banegas (Valenzuela) 65th minute; Valadez-Paz (Cooper) 78th minute.
Gavino Carranza/Photo by Ben Carbajal