The odds were stacked against FC Tucson from the start.
Dave Cosgrove was hired as the soccer club’s coach months after that sort of change is usually made. As a result, the Men in Black’s roster was assembled on the fly, and remained in flux for much of the season.
Despite all that, FC Tucson managed to not only qualify for the postseason but beat the No. 1 Western Conference seed FC Golden State Force in penalty kicks after trailing by two goals at halftime.
The team’s playoff run ended one night later, when it fell to Calgary Foothills FC 2-0 in the conference final.
Cosgrove’s team finished the PDL regular season 7-3-4, outlasting many peoples’ expectations. FC Tucson’s overall record was 10-5-4.
“To be honest, and I told the team this, and I’m not trying to be insulting to anybody, but this is probably the least-talented team FC Tucson has had and yet we got as far as any FC Tucson team has had,” Cosgrove said. “And that comes down to the character of the kids, the hard work of the kids, the belief of the players and the work of the support staff. …
“We wouldn’t have even made the playoffs if we didn’t have unbelievable character and toughness.”
Players Damian German, Angel Heredia, Henry Lander and Miguel Salazar enjoyed breakthrough seasons. German scored a team-high 11 goals in 14 PDL games, and netted four of them over the final two regular-season matches to help Tucson clinch a last-minute berth in the postseason.
“He grew into a big-time goal scorer, which there were some expectations he would be but he hadn’t been at this level before,” Cosgrove said. “He took on that responsibility and obviously he helped change the season for us.”
FC Tucson is slated to move from the PDL to USL Division III next season. Cosgrove doesn’t yet know if he’ll be asked to return, but said he learned a lot from his first year at the helm of the club. The longtime Pima College coach said he grew while facing challenges.
“For me, in the last month in particular, this team has inspired me,” Cosgrove said. “The hard work, the result, the dedication, dealing with adversity — that doesn’t happen too often. For me, in my first year, this was a very special group.”
