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Missing in action
AWC handed third straight loss with just nine players in uniform
It had been three weeks since the Arizona Western College soccer team had its 12th man in the stands.
Unfortunately for the Matadors, the home crowd could not take the field as the 10th and 11th men.
Spotting the opposition a two-man advantage from the outset, AWC allowed a pair of goals in the first half and lost 2-0 to No. 12 Pima.
"It's pretty tough to play 9 on 11," said AWC coach Kenny Dale, who was alone on the Matador bench most of the night. "There's ways to do it tactically, ... but they put in a good effort and did their best, and I apppreciate that. Those nine guys gave a fabulous effort the last 180 minutes for us."
AWC (6-4-1) began the second half of its season in much the same manner as it ended the first half: falling to a ranked team with just nine men in uniform as 16 players served the second of a two-match suspension following Wednesday's match against Chandler-Gilbert.
And instead of a marquee offensive matchup between the conference's top two goal scorers - AWC's Bello Alhassan and Pima's Minh Vu - the Matadors were forced to concentrate on defense just to try and stay with the Aztecs.
Pima (7-3-1) took advantage of AWC's situation quickly, taking the lead in the ninth minute on a Vu goal assisted by former San Luis Sidewinder Francisco Sanchez. 20 minutes later, Aztec forward Carlos Camacho gave his team a security goal and the 2-0 edge.
AWC managed just two runs in the first half that reached Pima's 18-yard box, though one nearly cost the Aztecs. Wally Sanchez missed the Matadors' best opportunity to score, a one-on-one crossing shot against Pima's keeper that narrowly went wide left.
The Matadors' evening got worse in the 55th minute of play when goalkeeper Dejan Milosevic twisted his ankle. Milosevic stayed in the game -severly favoring one leg - for another four minutes before Dale removed him.
Once faced with an three-man advantage and a second backup goalkeeper, the Aztecs cordially took their foot off the gas but still made Efrain "Jr." Mandujano save a handful of shots. The match was briefly an 11-on-7 match after Alhassan received a yellow card before he returned.
"(Pima coach David Cosgrove) talked to me at the beginning about starting nine, but I didn't think that'd be fair to his kids that trained all week," Dale said. "How can he tell two of his kids or any of his kids they have to sit out? I couldn't do that, so it is what it is."
The Matadors will be back to a 24-man roster at 6 p.m. Wednesday when they host Mesa. Though many of his regular starters were among the nine who played the last two matches, Dale said he some will likely not play until Saturday's match with Glendale, the team's final regular season road match.
"We're going to keep writing the book," Dale said. "Not every chapter in every book is a pleasant one. You gotta have the bad news in there as well. But we'll try to write some better chapters after this and see how we do."
