T-Birds shut out by Chandler-Gilbert 2-0 in regular season finale
Rene Gomez
The Mesa Community College women’s soccer team took a 2-0 loss versus the Chandler-Gilbert Coyotes on Oct. 26 in Chandler.
This loss ends the T-Birds season with no playoff spot for Mesa in the ACCAC Region I Tournament.
The Coyotes visited John D. Riggs Stadium on Sept. 21 when the T-Birds were defeated by a 2-1 margin.
The T-Birds struggled to score a goal even though they outshot the Coyotes 15-6 with seven of the Mesa shots on goal.
Freshman Morgan Eddy led all T-Birds with four shots attempted, followed by freshmen forwards Jordan Drake and Jade Martins each having three.
The first half was mostly defensive play and ball possession because both teams combined for five shot attempts, but the Coyotes did manage to score in the 36th minute.
The T-Birds picked up the pace trying to tie up and had 13 additional shot attempts, but could not get the ball passed the Coyote goalkeeper.
Chandler-Gilbert created more separation from Mesa with another goal in the 71st minute and the T-Birds could not come back.
Freshman goalkeeper Danielle Torres may have only registered one save, but the defense of the T-Birds at every position was still good enough to stay close.
The offense just could not capitalize on the 15 attempts.
Throughout the year, Mesa has been a top-tier team for shot attempts, but converting those attempts into goals at a low efficiency with 36 total goals (1.8 goals for average).
Drake was ranked 4th in the conference with 61 shots and led the team followed by Eddy’s 30 shots.
Drake also led the team with 11 goals with sophomore forward Viviana Romero finishing the season with five of her own.
Torres ranked 4th in the conference in saves with 78, had a save percentage of .765, and ended the season with four shutouts.
The T-Birds finished the season in 7th place in the conference, and an overall record of 8-12 (8-10 in conference)
