The Pima Community College women’s soccer team may not make the semifinal round of the NJCAA Division II national tournament at Huntsville, Ala., after completing pool play, but the Aztecs will always remember Monday’s thrilling victory.
The No. 6 Aztecs (13-5) rallied from a two-goal deficit, scoring four goals in the last 19:39, to defeat No. 10 Pensacola (Fla.) State 4-3 in Pool C competition.
Pima split its two games in the pool, losing 3-1 on Sunday to No. 3 Heartland (Ill.).
Four teams from pool play advance to the semifinals based on seeding and results.
The Aztecs are plus-3 in points with Monday’s win with a goal differential of minus-1.
Three schools ranked above them won Sunday, including Heartland.
Heartland and the other two — No. 1 Northwest Mississippi and No. 2 Johnson County (Kan.) — conclude pool play Tuesday.
No. 5 Holmes (Miss.) won both of its games in Pool D which means it will finish above Pima with the opportunity to advance.
Pima fell behind 2-0 and then 3-2 in the second half but rallied to defeat Pensacola State.
With the score tied at 3-3, sophomore Lizzie Walker (Canyon del Oro) put the Aztecs up for good at the 87th minute (2:59 left on the clock) as she hit a shot just inside the box with her left foot that sailed over and cleared the goalkeeper’s reach.
Freshman Samantha Mendez (Tucson High) tapped the ball over to Walker for the assist.
“I’m so proud of everybody; We worked hard and grinded through,” sophomore Uriah Burrell (Catalina Foothills) is quoted as saying by the Pima media-relations department. “For a minute, it was hectic, chaotic and we were a bit negative, but we ended up pulling together and just be confident in ourselves and our abilities and we finished it off.”
Sophomore Solaris Graves talks about her header goal to tie the score at 3-3 and how this is the way to finish, if in fact, it is the end of their season. #PimaSoccer #AztecTOUGH pic.twitter.com/Ya22khFwh8
— PimaAthletics (@PimaAthletics) November 19, 2024
The Aztecs fell behind 2-0 when Pensacola State’s Aiyannah Robinson scored in the 50th minute. The Pirates got on the board in the 17th minute with a goal from Vivian Kettenhausen.
Pima scored its first goal when Burrell cleared her defender and scored on a breakaway in the 70th minute (19:39 left in regulation).
Freshman Phoebe Knisley (Canyon del Oro) kicked it out of the box to Burrell to set up the goal.
“It was a punt off by Phoebe off of a corner and I heard (assistant) coach Carlos (Madrigal) to just boot it and I just stayed up top,” Burrell said. “The other team got a first touch, but I touched it around her, and I was able to be fast enough and place it in the corners.”
Walker scored her first goal of the game after drawing a foul inside the box and converted on her penalty kick to tie it at 2 in the 72nd minute.
“I’ve been practicing those (penalty kicks) for a whole season, and I made the one that counted,” Walker told Pima’s media-relations department.
The Pirates put the Aztecs in a hole again when Maya Figueroa scored in the 75th minute (14:43).
The Aztecs responded more than 10 minutes later with 4:03 left when sophomore Solaris Graves (Ironwood Ridge) found the back of the net on her header inside the box to tie the score at 3.
Freshman Savannah Michel (Walden Grove) had the assist.
“All I knew is I saw the ball in the air and I had to do something because I was the closest person so I had to put something on it and take a chance,” Graves said.
Burrell added that she was “happy with the way we played, and we were able to pull together for each other in the end.”
“It was really heart-warming and I’m very proud of everybody here; on the bench and on the field,” she added. “We really came together today and it showed.”
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