Burst of offense nets 6 against Paradise Valley
Rene Gomez
The T-Bird men’s soccer team won convincingly 6-0 over the visiting Paradise Valley Pumas Thursday Oct. 3 at John D. Riggs Stadium.
The win ends a two match losing streak for the T-Birds as their record goes to 7-4-2, and they sit in fourth place in the conference.
It was an offensive explosion for the T-Birds as six players scored, but the team had not scored more than four goals in any previous matches.
“We always knew we could do more in those games. Everyone’s been working hard the past couple of weeks on finishing, getting our minds right, and getting the right technique,” said sophomore forward Kaue Martins.
Sophomore defender Luke Bunjovac put the T-Birds on the board with a penalty kick goal in the 13th minute.
Another goal was scored in the 41st minute by freshman midfielder Pepe Alonso before the end of the first half.
Even though the T-Birds showed dominance in that first half, the dominance in the second half outdid the first.
Freshman defender Hector Molina scored in the 48th minute to make it 3-0, followed by a goal in the 70th minute by Martins.
It was his sixth goal of the year, and he leads all T-Birds in that category.
Shortly afterward, sophomore midfielder Cesar Sandoval added a goal in the 72nd minute to put the T-Birds comfortably ahead 4-0.
At that point, Coach Tim Barmettler put in reserve players to get in some playing time, and they did not ease up as freshman midfielder Alejandro Carnica scored in the 81st minute.
“Tonight was great,” Barmettler said. “These guys work so hard and I want to reward them with playing time.”
Freshman goalkeeper Kendyl Day continued to play at a level no other goalkeeper in the conference has come close to.
He earned his fourth shutout of the season and still has the best save percentage and most saves in the conference.
“He’s really been the backbone of this team and we’re really happy with Kendyl,” said Coach Barmettler said.
The T-Birds will have a tough stretch that involves playing four matches in eight days, but the team looks forward to it.
“We’re excited,” Bunjovac said. “We just need to stay healthy, keep pushing, play how we did today, and get some W’s.”
The T-Birds will face the Yavapai Roughriders at 7 p.m., Oct. 19 at John D. Riggs Stadium.
