FC Tucson’s playoff dreams have finally turned into a reality following a 4-2 win Saturday night at Kino North Stadium over the Richmond Kickers.
Making the playoffs was like a fantasy for the club at the end of June, when they were 3-1-6 and had just parted ways with former coach John Galas.
After Saturday’s victory, the Men In Black are now the fourth-seeded team in the USL League One heading into the postseason with an 11-10-7 record with 40 points.
They are the first FC Tucson team to make it to the USL League One playoffs. They now face the fifth-seeded Richmond Kickers (11-7-10 40 points) in a rematch game on Saturday at Kino North. Kickoff is at 7 p.m.
“What a night for the community, what a night for our fans. It’s certainly very emotional for me,” said head coach Jon Pearlman, who replaced Galas on an interim basis before becoming the permanent coach last month. “I was given the opportunity and I’m just continuing to be grateful that we can continue to play for our fans-in front of our fans.
“I believe in this team. Once we went on a run, I believed this was a playoff-level team. We put ourselves in great position. We relinquished that position (with some late-season setbacks), but ultimately, Richmond’s a good matchup for us.”
Despite having to answer back to two different lead changes, FC Tucson’s offense looked sharper than ever on Saturday night. Four different players made at least one goal.
“I’m really proud of the team for answering so quickly in that moment. They showed a lot of character in those moments,” Pearlman said. “When you think that things are lost, they find a way. It’s just one of those situations where we felt like chance creation wasn’t gonna be a problem for us. We just had to keep our concentration.”
Maxi Schenfeld was the first to score for his team. He tied the game just a couple minutes after Richmond made the first score 21 minutes into the match. Schenfeld was able to kick the ball just past a defender for the equalizer.
Deri Corfe was the next one to find the net just under 42 minutes in the match. He split the ball between a crowd of defenders and knocked it past the goal keeper to give his team a 2-1 lead.
Richmond tied the match at 48 minutes behind a penalty kick by Emi Terzaghi.
Six minutes later, Luca Mastrantonio knocked in a header off of a corner kick from Charlie Dennis. He retook the lead for FC Tucson with a 3-2 score in the 52nd minute.
“I remember my teammate Joao Delgado telling me, right before the corner kick, ‘You’re scoring. You’re scoring.’ He knew it and it was coming,” Mastrantonio said. “Charlie just placed it on my head, a perfect corner kick and I was happy to be there”.
Fan-favorite Shak Adams was the last to score for his team.
Adams utilized his crafty footwork to get past a defender and squeeze the ball in the corner of the goal. The goal brought FC Tucson’s lead to 4-2 in the 57th minute.
“Early in the first half, I tried to pass it off to Deri, but the second time I was like I gotta take it on myself and take a shot,” said Adams. “I was lucky enough to be a part of history of FC Tucson to make the playoffs.”
Wallis Lapsley also had a decent night at the post, allowing only two shots on target out of four. He has ended the season second in saves in the league with 76.
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Nathaniel Martinez is an aspiring sports journalist who is a Sahuaro High School graduate and Pima Community College student. He has written for the Aztec Press at Pima. While at Sahuaro, he played football for longtime coach Scott McKee and he wrestled for the Cougars.
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