Arizona Western edges Tyler in overtime

The Arizona Western men’s soccer team is back in the NJCAA Division I National Tournament semifinals after an overtime win against No. 2 Tyler Junior College Tuesday.

The Matadors scored six minutes into the first overtime to defeat the Apaches 2-1 in overtime and advance to the semifinals for the second straight year.

“Golden goal is a difficult way to lose but a great way to win,” “We are really excited, I think we struggled toward the end of regulation, to keep things tight. They scored a great goal to level it and then we scored on a rebound to finish it off. I am really pleased with all of our guys, Campbell Young played a great game, Atsuki Sato in goal, that guy is a gamer for sure. Terry Makedika really controls the pace up front and  Nozomu Kamay played about four positions including left back at the end of the game.”

Arizona Western, the No. 7 seed, took the lead in the first half as Shoki Yoshida hits a nice strike to give the Matadors a 1-0 lead.

Goalkeeper Atsuki Sato made some really nice saves to keep the Matadors in the lead throughout the first half.

Both teams had opportunities in the second half, but it looked like Arizona Western would win in regulation as the minutes ticked down.

But with 1:46 remaining, Henrique Bueno’s attempt is stopped but Luis Flores was there to knock it in and tie the game. It would send the game to overtime.

In overtime Arizona Western’s Luis Ortner made a sliding shot that trickled into the goal to send Arizona Western to the semifinals. It is the second straight year that Arizona Western has beaten the No. 2 seed.

Tyler Junior College was eliminated with the loss and finishes the season 15-3-1.