Roughriders too much for T-Birds in 4-1 loss
Rene Gomez
The T-Birds men’s soccer team lost 4-1 against the top ranked Yavapai Roughriders Oct. 19 at John D. Riggs Stadium.
Mesa’s overall regular season record is 9-7-2 and they need one more win to qualify for the postseason with two games left in the regular season.
The last time Mesa played Yavapai, it was a 1-1 tie.
This was a very different match from the beginning, with the T-Birds dealing with adversity throughout the evening.
It was the most goals allowed by freshman goalkeeper Kendyl Day this season, and sophomore forward Kaue Martins was ejected very early in the first half.
Martins leads the team in goals scored with nine so the ejection took away an important striker for the offense.
“I think after that red card, it kind of shook us and instead of regrouping and just playing the game, we were unable to do that tonight,” said freshman midfielder Josh Jiminez.
Yavapai’s first goal was from a penalty kick in the eighth minute.
The penalty kick was awarded because of a handball violation by sophomore midfielder Danny Molina.
In the 27th minute Yavapai scored another goal to go up 2-0 in the first half.
In the second half Yavapai was able to score two more goals in the 73rd minute and the 83rd minute.
Mesa had so much trouble trying to score it was the 84 minute when freshman defender Daniel Wichman scored the team’s only goal.
The entire team appeared to be frustrated, especially Day.
“We just told him to keep his head, don’t worry about it, goals are going to happen,” sophomore midfielder Blas Minor said.
The field conditions were even a factor as players were falling down often.
“It was a little damp, the ball skipped a little more and we usually play on dry ground,” Minor said.
Freshman forward Julian Galvan, who recently had an appendectomy, but could return for the playoffs.
The ACCAC regional play begins Monday Oct. 28 and Mesa looks to make an impact even though they are short-handed.
