(Tucson, AZ) The Pima Community College men’s soccer team (10-2-3) played another hard fought battle against Division II rival Phoenix College (13-1-2) as the teams needed penalty kicks to decide the NJCAA Region I, Division II Champion for the second straight year.
The No. 3 seeded Aztecs fell 1-1 (4-3 in penalty kicks) against the No. 1 seeded Bears. The Aztecs went up 1-0 in the PK session when freshman goalkeeper Cristian Sattin stopped the first attempt and sophomore Ernesto Osornio (Ironwood HS) converted on his shot. The Bears tied it in the second round and sophomore Nicholas Bianchi’s shot hit the left post. The teams traded conversions and Pima got theirs from sophomores Jacob Garcia (Ironwood Ridge HS) and Cristian Gutierrez (Cholla HS) to keep it tied at 3-3. The Bears made their next attempt but sophomore Daniel Rendon’s (Tucson Magnet HS) shot was blocked.
The Aztecs took a 1-0 during regulation play when Osornio put the Aztecs on the board with a free kick goal in the 18th minute.
The Bears tied the game at 1-1 when Marcos Mora scored in the 55th minute.
Sattin finished the game with six saves.
“Tough game. Phoenix College was very good tonight,” Pima men’s soccer coach David Cosgrove said. “They are No. 1 in the nation. We were fortunate to get to PKs. In PKs anything can happen and my kids battled and worked hard.”
The Aztecs and the Bears have played to three straight tie games. Last year’s Region I, Division II, the 2-2 tie during the regular season and Saturday’s Region Final.
The Aztecs await the NJCAA Division II selection show on Monday, November 7 for a likely at-large bid into the national tournament, held at Kino North Sports Complex from November 14-19.
Pima goals: Ernesto Osornio 18th minute.
Press Release courtesy of Pima Athletics – Raymond Suarez
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