Friday night’s game at Kino North Stadium featured a contest between two hot teams — FC Tucson (8-2-5) and the Mountain Division champions Flatirons Rush (8-2-3) of Arvada, Colo., in the first round of the USL 2 Playoffs.
Coming into the playoffs, both teams were riding high, with FC Tucson going unbeaten in their previous five matches (with a 3-0-2 record) while Flatirons Rush raised the bar by winning five straight.
The 3-2 win propels FC Tucson to the USL 2 Western Conference Semifinals, which will take place Sunday Night at Kino North Stadium at 7pm.
FC Tucson will face Ventura County (11-1-2), the Southwestern Division champions who they’ve played twice already this season to the tune of a 0-0 draw away on May 24, and a 2-1 victory on home ground on June 28. FC Tucson were one of only two teams to take points off Ventura County this season, and they managed to do it twice.
We are certain to get an excellent game between a red hot FC Tucson and the goliaths of the Southwestern Division who are seeking revenge.
Outside of the referee brandishing three yellow cards on Friday night, two for Flatirons and one for Tucson, the first half came and went with little to write home about. Neither side could find that final ball to truly threaten the opposition’s goal.
FC Tucson coach Sebastian Pineda told his team at halftime, “Sometimes you start games a little slow. There are mistakes technically, but we were solid in the back and only allowed a couple big chances. Everything comes down to quality in the final third.”
The second half kicked off with a bang, with Tucson netting two goals in quick succession, courtesy of midfielder Joao Belmudes scoring an absolute world beater, followed by winger James Jennings getting on the end of a Will Artesan cross to put one past the Flatirons keeper.
Belmudes, who will be a junior at the University of Charleston this upcoming season, danced past two defenders at the edge of the box before launching a curving effort into the top left-hand corner.
Artesan and Jennings compete collegiately for the University of Old Dominion and Missouri State respectively, and they combined to double FC Tucson’s lead. A quick feint from Artesan gave him the space he needed to fire a ball across the face of goal, where he found a streaking Jennings to guide it past the keeper. The assist marked Artesan’s second of the night.
A foul in Tucson’s box in the 83rd minute gave Flatirons life in the form of a penalty, which they would convert. But in the 7th minute of extra time, midfielder Jonah Kawamara sealed the victory with a third FC Tucson goal. That insurance goal would prove to be more decisive than a simple stat pad against a Flatirons team that fought until the bitter end, themselves scoring in 99th minute. Unfortunately for Flatirons, their valiant effort would go unrewarded as they ran out of time.
Friday’s game for FC Tucson started at close to 10 p.m. after the first game involving Ventura County and Albion Colorado was delayed because of rain and lightning before it went into overtime. Ventura County won that game 2-1.
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