4 different Matadors score as AWC topples Artichokes

AWC 4 Scottsdale 0 AWC: 5-2, 4-1 ACCAC SCOT: 1-3, 1-3 ACCAC

Arizona Western certainly wasn’t passive to start Saturday’s contest against Scottsdale.

After a sluggish opening half in Thursday’s loss to Pima, the Matadors bounced back in fashion as they stomped the Fighting Artichokes 4-0.

“We talked about putting more energy into every moment of the game,” AWC head coach Kenny Dale said.

Dale emphasized the importance of a fast start and wanted his players to deliver a variety of offensive attacks after being shut out for 87 minutes on Thursday.

Whether it was attacking the box or scoring on corners, AWC (5-2, 4-1 ACCAC) found the net at will in the early going.

In the fifth minute, Romaric Berneron wiggled his way into the box and headed a cross off a corner kick past the outstretched arms of Scottsdale goalkeeper Riley Widney.

“Well, it’s just getting into the attacking third where we need the variety,” Dale said. “We switched the point of attack very well.”

11 minutes later – off another corner kick – Michele Signorelli slipped through the defense and booted a soft chip past Widney for the Matadors’ second goal.

Signorelli is an important piece to the AWC offense and getting him going early only boosted the team’s confidence.

“A lot of it is just energy and we needed to continue to come out with intensity early in the game,” Dale said.

And the scoring kept coming.

In the 30th minute, Nozomu Kamei found himself on a breakaway before rifling a shot off the top cross bar, but the freshman remained composed, corralled his miss and banged in the rebound to extend the lead to 3-0.

And with seven minutes until the half, sophomore midfielder Ridwane Boukraa blasted a kick right at Widney. The screaming ball ricocheted off Widney’s hands and right back to the right boot of Boukraa, who then rifled in a strike to give AWC it’s fourth and final goal.

Dale credits his team’s quick development after a sloppy loss on Thursday and having the ability to bounce back in less than 48

hours and seal a conference win.

“It all started with Friday’s practice,” he said. “We had to lift their spirits and focus on what we needed to correct in the game they lost. It was pretty challenging and we just had a really good practice and I think that helped us today at the beginning of the game.”

While the offense shined, the Matadors’ defense suffocated any Artichokes (13) attack.

Coming into Saturday’s game, the Artichokes led the ACCAC in shots per game (20.7). However, that quick-shooting offense failed to get off double-digit shots and never had good opportunities around the net.

“I think we had the ball so much,” Dale said. “But many times they entered our half of the field, we were able to regain possession...We defused their attacks.”