MCC men’s soccer moves to 11th in the country after Saturday’s win over Pima Community College
Though it is still September, there truly was madness at John D. Riggs Stadium as the then 20th ranked Thunderbirds upset the then top ranked team in the country as they defeated Pima Community College 2-1.
With the win, MCC propelled themselves from 20th in the country to 11th in the most recent NJCAA rankings. This is the highest the team has ever been ranked.
MCC’s next two games will be crucial for them when it comes to playoff seeding.
They will travel to the top seed in the conference, Arizona Western College, and then to the number five seeded Paradise Valley Community College.
Currently, MCC holds the number four seed in the conference. If they can hang onto that position, or even get a better seeding, look for them to make some noise in the playoffs.
Coming into the game Saturday, the Thunderbirds were riding high on a two game winning streak over Scottsdale Community College and Yavapai College, respectively. The Thunderbirds’ record sat at 7-2-1 overall, and 2-1-1 in conference play as they were seeded fifth in the ACCAC standings.
Going into the contest, Pima ranked first in the country in the NJCAA rankings, while holding a 6-0-1 overall record and a 3-0-1 conference mark. In the ACCAC standings, they were second.
Pima had been averaging just over three goals a game, so defensively, MCC was going to have their hands full.
Kayden Burnes had the difficult task of matching up with Pima’s offensive focal point, Burnes was all over the field making sure he did his part to ensure a MCC win.
The team knew, with Pima having such a productive offense, they would have to adapt a “bend but don’t break,” mentality..
Coach Brian Ronan knew it would take an entire team effort to be able to contain Pima offensively.
“We just wanted to stay compact as a team, and collectively defend as a unit and not leave anyone isolated in one on one situations,” said Ronan.
All season long, MCC seemed to do most of their damage in the second half, as 21 of their 31 goals so far this season have come in the second half of games.
On Saturday, the script flipped for the Thunderbirds as they scored both of their goals in the first half.
In the 18th minute, Cole Wood was able to score off an assist from Abdiel Beltran.
Then, in the 21st minute, Mark Gomez was able to score off a penalty kick to help grab an early 2-0 lead.
From that point on until just after halftime, both teams were not able to put one past their opponents keeper.
Then in the 53rd minute, Pima was finally able to get one past Mesa goalkeeper Alejandro Chavez, cutting MCC’s lead to one.
From that point on, the tension in the stadium reached nearly a palpable level, as MCC tried to hold on for the historic upset.
Pima was able to get multiple close shots on goal in the second half, but Chavez was able to make the saves when it mattered most, even laying his body on the line to save a potential goal.
Finally, the clock struck zero and the upset was complete as MCC won 2-1.
Ronan immediately felt relief knowing his team just pulled off the biggest victory this season. He then felt joy for his players, knowing how much this win can propel them to greater things.
“Elation for the boys, I feel like for this group especially buying into the concept that we are a quality team. Every year you look at Pima, Yavapai, and Phoenix College and that’s the standard,” said Ronan, “and so until you’re beating those teams regularly you don’t feel like you’ve joined that level. And for our boys to get a couple of wins to show them the effort they’re putting in and the talent we have leads us to big moments like that.”
At the end of the day one of Ronan’s biggest responsibilities to his team is to put his players in a position to get noticed on a larger scale in order to be able to move onto bigger schools and continue their soccer careers. With wins against programs the likes of Pima and Yavapai, Ronan has given his boys a chance to be noticed on a national level.
The Thunderbirds will be away from the nest for the next couple of weeks as their next home game will be Oct. 15 as they will host Gateway Community College.
