Talented men’s soccer opens season with wins

By James Kelley
Photo by Ed Adams

Hoping to succeed in a competitive conference, the Pima Community College men’s soccer team brought in a talented freshman class to work in tandem with experienced sophomores.

The Aztecs (2-0, 2-0 Arizona Community College Athletic Conference) began the season Aug. 28 with an exciting 2-1 overtime win over Chandler-Gilbert Community College.

Last year, 14 of Pima’s top 18 players were rookies. Despite depending heavily on freshmen, the Aztecs were ranked most of the year, rising to as high as No. 8. This year, that is expected to pay dividends as Pima also added a talented freshmen class.

“We are counting on experience and the fact that we brought in a really good freshman class,” head coach David Cosgrove said. “We have high expectations.”

The Aztecs likely will be led by sophomore forward Minh Vu, an All-American last year. Although the Aztecs are not ranked, they received votes in the Top 15 poll.

Freshman defender Eric Glad expects the team to do well. “We’ve got a great core of returning kids and a lot of freshmen that played a lot,” he said. “I think we have a huge chance this year to go pretty far.”

The Aug. 28 victory marked the second year in a row for the Aztecs to open the season with an overtime win at home. Last year Vu had a hat trick in the opener.

“I think clearly we are a lot better than the last time we stepped on the field,” Cosgrove said. “We look more organized, so I think we are in good shape. That’s a good win against a tough team early on.”

Sophomore defender Edward Betterton scored the match winner with 5:26 left in overtime off of a corner kick by Vu.

“I thought we played really well, especially in the first half,” Glad said. “The second half was a little rough but then in overtime we finished it, so that’s what counts.”

Kolby Jacobson

Freshman defender Kolby Jacobson scored the season’s first goal with 6.2 seconds left in the first half, off an assist by freshman midfielder Oscar Ortega.

“Kolby does very well for us,” Cosgrove said.

The Aztecs return Vu and sophomore Marco Carrillo from the All-ACCAC team. However, they lost all-stars Edgar Reyna and Sergio Carrillo as their eligibility ran out. Sergio Carrillo was fourth in the league in goals.
Last year, Vu was second in the conference with 17 goals. Sophomore goalkeeper Miko Gastelum was fifth in goals-against-average with 1.34 in 2009.

Headlining the freshman class is forward Donny Toia, arguably Pima’s best-ever men’s soccer recruit. Toia was last year’s Arizona Daily Star player of the year.

“He’s a big time player,” Cosgrove said.

Other freshmen of note include forward Yaya Kane, who is from Mauritania in western Africa, and defender Marc Darling, who transferred from Southern Methodist University.

The ACCAC boasts No. 5 Yavapai College and No. 13 Arizona Western College. Pima and Phoenix College received votes in the poll.

Yavapai figures to be the ACCAC favorite. The Roughriders have won seven national championships and 19 of the last 20 region championships.

Last year, the Roughriders knocked Pima out of the playoffs for the fifth year in a row.

Since 1990, Yavapai has led the ACCAC with a record of 349-19-8, followed by Pima with 214-127-23 and Mesa Community College with 185-152-20.

“This is my 11th or 12th year associated with Pima and I think this will be the best the league has been,” Cosgrove said. “One through seven or eight will all be really good. Even the couple of weak ones will be very difficult as well, so there will be a lot of surprising results and I think it will come right down to the end.”

On Sept. 1, the Aztecs won their first road match, 3-1 at Mesa Community College. Vu, Toia and Kane each scored a goal and had an assist to boot.

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