AWC wins on Golden Goal over Pima
Mendez scores winner in OT
At times Thursday’s season opener between Arizona Western and Pima men’s soccer looked a little rough around the edges, but in the end the Matadors were able to rally for a win in overtime.
AWC was able to start the season the right away after a goal from freshman Yerry Mendez in the 98th minute off of a nice touch on a counter from sophomore transfer Nemanja Zivanovic across the center of the box. The win was in a golden-goal situation and gave the Mats an upset over the fourth-ranked team in the NJCAA Division I Preseason Poll.
“My homeboy, Nemanja from Serbia had a beautiful ball and I had a beautiful finish,” Mendez said.
Errant passes and missed chances for both teams didn’t allow it to be the prettiest of games in the early going. AWC gave balls away in the midfield all game, but they were able to recover and sniff out any plays that the Aztecs would try to get going the other direction. Without being able to hold much possession in the midfield the game was choppy.
“I think we gave away the ball too many times,” AWC coach Kenny Dale said. “Our problem was the giveaways in the midfield. We’d give the ball directly to someone wearing dark blue. That’s something that we have to work on. I have a practice and we’ll work on it.”
There were scattered chances for the Mats in the first half. Mendez was tough for Pima to mark all game with a chance in the opening minutes, but the best chance of regulation came in the 18th minute when he
was able to sneak through the back line for an open shot, but the goalie made a good save.
“We have to get him (Mendez) in space,” Dale said. “We have to get him in space and we have to be more accurate with our passes.”
About 15 minutes later Michael Adeyeye couldn’t quite get ahold of a cross into the box that was promising, and the teams went into the half with a scoreless tie.
Pima began to settle into the game in the second half with the Aztecs’ attack coming up with more chances. A free kick from about 20 yards in the 75th minute got around the AWC wall and sophomore goalie Heriberto Ruiz made a diving save near the post.
Ruiz held his team in the game over the last 30 minutes when Pima was finding a lot of green grass.
“He’s really coming into his own this year,” Dale said. “He was good last year, but he commands the penalty area and he really does a good job in terms of keeping everybody together. He talks well, he moves well, and he knows how to box this year.”
In the 89th minute AWC had a chance to put the game away with a header by Derek Fournier off of a corner, but that hit the post.
After just missing the winning goal there wasn’t much wait time as Mendez was able to get loose midway through extra time to start the Matadors’ season off on the right foot.