Aztec Men's Soccer Share the Wealth to Down Mesa; Cosgrove Gets Win No. 298

The Pima Community College men's soccer team (15-3-1, 15-3-1 in ACCAC) picked up its fifth straight win on Tuesday at Kino North Stadium.

The No. 12 ranked Aztecs defeated Mesa Community College (7-10-2, 7-10-2) 3-1 as the Aztecs produced three different goal scorers.

Sophomore Hector Banegas put the Aztecs on the board in the 26^th minute when he converted on a penalty kick shot. The Aztecs added to their lead in the second half when freshman Chris Cooper (University HS) hit a shot with his left foot to the right side of the Mesa goalkeeper in the 60^th minute.

The Thunderbirds cut Pima's lead in half at 2-1 with a goal in the 73^rd minute but freshman Julian Gaona (Tucson Magnet HS) put the game away with his breakaway goal with 42 seconds left in the game.

The win gave Pima head coach David Cosgrove his 298^th career victory at Pima.

The Aztecs outshot the Thunderbirds 6-4 for the game and sophomore goalkeeper Taylor Anderson (Salpointe Catholic HS) finished with three saves.

The Aztecs swept the regular season head-to-head meetings with the Thunderbirds. Pima won 2-1 last month in Mesa.

The Aztecs will close out the regular season on Thursday when they host Arizona Western College at Kino North Stadium. The game starts at 4:30 p.m.

Hector Banegas (#11) and AJ Valenzuela (#8)/Photo by Ben Carbajal