AWC men score early, win 2-0 in dominant game
Women’s team turns 1-0 halftime lead into 5-0 rout to beat GateWay, win 7th straight
The Arizona Western men’s soccer team dominated possession, had a number of chances and only allowed their opponent to take one shot. So, even though the result was not an overwhelming number, the Matadors were satisfied with the outcome.
No. 9 AWC scored twice in a five-minute stretch midway through the first half, and that wound up being the only scoring on the night for either side in the 2-0 win against GateWay on Thursday.
The Matadors (10-1-3 overall, 10-1-3 Arizona Community College Athletic Conference) scored in the 17th minute when freshman midfielder Alex Avila sent a cross from the right wing into the box, and sophomore Juan Arango was there to shoot and score.
They scored again in a similar fashion five minutes later. It was a Carlos Lopez cross this time, but a GateWay (3-11, 3-11 ACCAC)
defender who accidentally sent it into the net on an attempted clearance.
Getting the ball deep on the right side was a strategy AWC went back to time and time again, and it resulted in two quick goals in the first half.
“We attacked the flanks very well,” AWC coach Kenny Dale said.
But the next 68 minutes were scoreless on both sides. The Matadors had their chances. Early in the second half, Steven Salas got the ball outside the box and sent a screamer for goal; it hit the top crossbar and bounced away. Soon after, on a free kick, defender Kacey Smith was on the receiving end in a perfect spot for a header but it was saved by goalkeeper Mario Munoz.
Munoz had a busy night and turned in a stellar performance for the Geckos, who have struggled this season.
“Their keeper had a pretty good night,” Dale said. “We made poor choices, not shooting to the far post, but he did well for his side.”
On another set-piece attempt, this time from a corner, Ezequiel Quijada’s
header was saved, then the ensuing shot after a deflection from Quijada was saved again by Munoz.
The Matadors’ defense rarely had to work in Thursday’s contest, with the ball past midfield for the majority of the night. So while Dale gave due credit to Munoz’s job in goal, he still wanted to see more than two goals when there were so many chances to score.
“This must be a record for corners for us,” Dale said. “They defended well, and we finished poorly. And when you combine that, we got a lot of corners out of the game. … We would have liked to finish more opportunities, but sometimes it’s just not your night in terms of finishing, but we made it work.”
Since their Sept. 12 loss to Scottsdale, the Matadors have been on quite a run. They have an eight-game unbeaten streak with seven wins and a draw at Pima.
Dale said a key to that success has been mixing up the lineup and seeing different players shine when given the chance, specifically citing Arango, who scored Thursday.
“A lot of guys have really stepped
up and raised the level of our play,” Dale said. “It’s a long season, so you need a lot of contributions from a lot of different players, and we got it tonight.”
AWC women extend win streak to 7
The game was just 1-0 through halftime, but the Matadors (10-1-3, 10-1-3 ACCAC) really poured it on in the second half, ending the evening with a 5-0 win, which was their seventh straight.
The lone goal in the first 45 minutes was on a penalty kick that Cinthya Samaniego scored. Fourteen minutes into the second half, Samaniego scored her second goal of the game on a Karla Navarro assist. Navarro herself scored within the next five minutes to make it 3-0.
Karen Melendrez scored on a 30-yarder to make it 4-0 in the 75th minute, and then Christiana Boateng netted her 19th goal of the year four minutes later.
AWC outshot GateWay (5-9, 5-9 ACCAC) 22-1.
Both AWC soccer teams are in Mesa on Saturday for their next games.