Sports

Pima Men's Soccer pose for a team photo with their trophy at their championship celebration. Story and photo by NATE MARTINEZPima Post The 2021 Pima Community College Men’s Soccer team can now call itself national champions. The Aztecs won an overtime thriller Saturday at Wichita, Kansas, against the CCBC Essex Knights on penalty kicks by a score of 3-2. The second half was highly competitive. Despite both teams attempting multiple shots, neither was able to score, putting the match into Golden Goal time. Golden Goal time is when a 10-minute period of extra time is added at the end of a tied match. The team that scores next is the winner. If the game is still tied after 10 minutes, another period of extra time is to be played with the same rules. The match is then determi...

Photo by Ray SuarezThe Pima Community College women’s soccer team poses with the National Runner-Up trophy after falling to No. 1 Heartland Community College in the NJCAA DII Women’s Soccer National Championship Nov. 20. By ALEX JIMENEZPima Post Pima Community College women’s soccer team closed off the season with an impressive run, reaching the National Final in the NJCAA DII Women’s Soccer Championship, where it took penalties to beat the Aztecs. No. 4 Pima met up with No. 1-ranked Heartland Community College in the National Final, where Heartland took an early 1-0 lead before Pima midfielder Kaitlyn Bassett responded making the score 1-1 in the first half. In the second half, Delaney Buntin intercepted a misplaced pass by the goalkeeper and scored to give the Aztecs a brief ...

By Nate MartinezPima Post The No. 4-seeded Pima Aztecs battled through a hard-fought match against No. 5 Holmes (Mississippi) Community College, winning by a 3-2 score at the NJCAA Division II national tournament at Wichita, Kan. It is their second win in Pool D play, advancing them to 17-4 on the season and earning them a spot in the NJCAA Division II semifinals that begin Friday against No. 6 Phoenix College at 1:30 p.m. Maher then assisted Mari Acosta (Sahuarita) with another goal 33 minutes into the match. The score remained 2-0 heading into the half. Less than a minute into the second half, Ravynne Wilson scored a goal for Holmes (14-4-2) to cut the deficit to 2-1. Pima responded four minutes later when Delaney Buntin (Cienega) scored to bring the score to 3-1. At th...

By Nate MartinezPima Post The No. 2-seeded Pima men’s soccer team won its second Pool B match in the NJCAA Division II national tournament, defeating the defending champions, No. 7-seeded Southeastern (Iowa) Community College, by a 2-0 score on Wednesday at Wichita, Kansas. The win advances the Aztecs (17-1-1) to the semifinal round Friday against an opponent to be determined. Last season, Pima was eliminated by Southeastern (13-8-2) in the semifinal round. It was a competitive first half Wednesday, ending with a scoreless tie. Pima’s offense started rolling following the break. Midfielder Ulysses Torres (Sunnyside graduate) scored inside the box seven minutes into the second half. With 20 minutes left in the match, it was midfielder Jacob Garcia (Walden Grove) who made t...

Stephanie Van Latum/PimaAthleticsPima Community College Defender Sam Lossou lines up to control the ball Oct 12 against the Yavapai College Rough Riders in a 2-1 victory. By ALEX JIMENEZ Pima Post Pima Community College Men’s Soccer team (15-2) has been invited as the No. 2 seed to the NJCAA DII Men’s Soccer National Championship, taking place Nov. 15 through Nov. 20. Pima lost the regional tournament to Phoenix College in penalty kicks to secure a bid to the national tournament. However, it received one of four at-large bids thanks to its strong performances this season and consistently being in the nation’s top 10. The Aztecs are in Pool B along with No. 7 Southeastern Community College in Burlington, Iowa, and No. 11 Muskegon Community College in Muskegon, Michigan. P...

Photo credit: Stephanie Van Latum/PimaAthleticsCaption: All-conference winger Brian Vu jumps and wins a header as defender Sam Lossou, ACCAC Player of the Year, runs behind Oct. 12 against the Yavapai College Rough Riders in a 2-1 victory. By ALEX JIMENEZ Pima Post Pima Community College men’s soccer (15-1, 8-1 ACCAC) beat Glendale Community College 4-2 in the Region I semifinal Wednesday to advance to the Region I final game.  Glendale scored in the 2nd minute to give the Vaqueros an early lead, but winger Jacob Garcia leveled the score in the 28th minute. Francisco “Esty” Manzo gave Pima a first half lead shortly after, but Glendale answered back in the 56th minute. With the score tied at 2-2, defender and ACCAC Player of the Year Sam Lossou scored in the 69th minute to ...

Photo courtesy of Pima AthleticsWinger Brian Vu goes into a challenge to win the loose ball Oct. 12 against Yavapai College in a 2-1 win. By ALEX JIMENEZPima Post Pima Community College men’s soccer (14-1, 8-1 ACCAC) was handed its first loss Saturday, in the last game of the regular season by Arizona Western College (17-0, 9-0). After the loss, Pima fell from No. 1 to No. 2 in the country, according to the NJCAA DII Men’s Soccer Rankings.  Arizona Western held lots of possession and had a few goal-scoring chances in the first half, but Pima’s defense remained solid. Pima grew into the game and created a couple scoring chances in the second half themselves, including a late freekick from Saul Lopez that went just wide of the post.  In the 65th minute, Nozomu Kamei ...