The No. 4-ranked Pima men’s soccer team avenged its only loss of the season, beating No. 2 Phoenix College 2-1 at the Pima Aztecs West Campus Soccer Field on Saturday night.
“Phoenix is a really good team and we haven’t been tested like that in a while,” Pima soccer head coach David Cosgrove said. “I really liked the way that our kids responded. I thought we were very good in the moments we needed to be, which has been kind of a weakness for us all year long. Any time you beat the No. 2 team in the country, you gotta be excited.”
The Aztecs (16-1) suffered a recent loss to the Bears (16-1-1) — a 2-1 final on Sept. 21 in Phoenix. They had not beaten them since 2021.
“Up there, I thought they played well and in the big moments, they were very good,” Cosgrove said. “They were the deserving winner that night. I thought tonight, in the big moments, we were very good. I thought we deserved to win tonight as well.”
Saturday’s win increased Pima’s winning streak to nine games. The Aztecs ended their home slate undefeated at 9-0.
In 17 games this season, Pima finished an impressive second in the ACCAC in shots, goals, shots per game, shots on goal, assists and shutouts.
“I think we have a lot of good players,” Cosgrove said. “I’m very fortunate I’ve been able to get a bunch of good players that come to Pima, stay at Pima and buy into what we’re doing. We have a lot of sophomores so that helps with experience and confidence and maturity.”
Sophomore midfielder and Tucson Magnet grad Ismael Ruiz was third in the ACCAC in goals scored with 14. The goal that he scored with 7 minutes left put him at 15, just one shy of tying for second in the conference.
“I actually didn’t know that,” Ruiz said of his goal-scoring during the season. “I think it’s a pretty good achievement. It’s not No. 1, but obviously we’re all going for that No. 1 spot.”
Phoenix College was the first to get on the board in the 32nd minute of the first half. Richard Tabares tapped the ball in to put the Bears up 1-0.
Canyon Del Oro grad Brandon Sanchez got the momentum back off a penalty kick in the 34th minute of the half.
After a mostly defensive second half, the Aztecs took the lead in 37th minute. Sunnyside grad Eythan Mancilla took advantage of an errant deflected ball and kicked it to the back of the net.
Ruiz added a final goal just a minute later to put the Aztecs up 3-1 to close out the match.
The win at the end of the regular season gave Pima and Phoenix the same conference record at 15-1, making them co-conference champions.
Based on a tie-breaker by the ACCAC, Phoenix will be the No. 1 seed while Pima will be No. 2 heading into the Region 1, Division 2 playoffs.
The Aztecs will take on No. 3 Glendale on Thursday at the Pima West Aztec Soccer Field at 6 p.m.
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