Once again this season, Pima College’s men’s soccer team is in the hunt to win a NJCAA national championship. Coach Dave Cosgrove’s Aztecs started the season 12-1 and ranked No. 4 in NJCAA Division II.

Pima won the national championship in 2018 and 2021.

You can make a strong case that Pima’s men’s soccer team has been the top sports program in Tucson — any level, any sport — the past 10 years. Cosgrove’s club has gone 151-25-3 overall and 106-16-18 in the ACCAC, among the top soccer conferences in America.

What is so impressive about Cosgrove’s program is that it is filled with Southern Arizona players year after year, a tribute to the strong high school soccer programs and the FC Tucson Youth organization. Five of the Aztecs’ leading players this year are Robert Casteneda of Nogales, D’Andre Pickett of Sahuarita, Ismael Ruiz of Tucson High, Missael Montilla of Tucson High and Brandon Sanchez of Canyon del Oro.

Pima Community College men's soccer coach Dave Cosgrove pauses while thanking his wife during a celebration for the Pima men's and women's soccer teams at PCC-West Campus on Nov. 22, 2021.

A preview of the NJCAA championships seems certain in the final game of the ACCAC regular season when the Aztecs play No. 2-ranked and undefeated Phoenix College on the Aztecs’ pitch.


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Contact sports columnist Greg Hansen at GHansenAZStar@gmail.com. On X(Twitter): @ghansen711