The Pima College women’s soccer team will play in the first NJCAA national title game in program history after beating Phoenix College on Friday in the semifinals.
The No. 4-seeded Aztecs will take on No. 1 Heartland (Illinois) CC at noon Saturday in Wichita, Kansas, in the Division II championship.
Pima (16-4-1) beat No. 6 Phoenix 5-4 in penalty kicks Friday after neither team scored in regulation or the overtime periods.
Sophomore Seti Valencia, a Sunnyside High School grad, scored the deciding penalty kick. Sophomore Angelina Amparano, a Salpointe Catholic grad, stopped three attempts in the penalty kick session. She finished the game with 11 saves during regulation and the two 10-minute overtimes.
“PKs are obviously very nerve-wracking; not only for me but I know the kickers feel it, too,” Amparano said in a press release. “I said ‘Just calm down guys; just pass it in the back of the net. It’s fine.’ Multiple times going into PKs over the last two years, I won’t say I have the hang of it but it does get a little less nerve-wracking.”
The Bears finished with 22 shots for the game while the Aztecs had four. Pima and Phoenix had split two meetings earlier this season.
Pima men win by shutout
The No. 2-seeded Aztec men blanked No. 4 Georgia Military College 2-0 on Friday night in Wichita in the national semifinals.
The Aztecs will face No. 1 CCBC Essex (Maryland) at 3 p.m. Saturday for the championship. Pima is back in the title game for the first time since winning it all in 2018.
Francisco Manzo scored in the 14th minute Friday for Pima (18-1-1), while Lorenzo Nicolia scored in the 54th.
“We came out strong," said Pima freshman defender Fernando Garate in a press release. "We had one plan to not let any goals in and that’s what we did. We communicated in the back and stayed strong. This feels great. My first year here and this is all I can dream about.”
Juan Suarez had six saves in the win.
