Daisuke Takanaka scored two goals and Pima College’s men’s soccer team stunned top-seeded and unbeaten St. Louis Community College 3-1 on Wednesday, earning a spot in the NJCAA National Tournament semifinals in Flagstaff.
Eighth-seeded Pima will play second-seeded Schoolcraft College at noon on Friday.
Takanaka scored in the 22nd minute with a header, and the teams entered halftime with Pima holding a 1-0 lead. Takanaka’s second goal came in the 59th minute, and made it 2-0. Freshman Hugo Kametani added a goal in the 72nd minute.
“Our (ACCAC) conference prepared us for this game,” Pima coach David Cosgrove said in a news release. “We battled and stayed organized and the effort the back-four and AJ (Valenzuela) supporting them was fantastic. They were really disciplined and handled the physicality really well.
“A couple great goals from Daisuke. He works hard and is under-appreciated. His first goal was fantastic and it set the tone. They’ve (St. Louis) been good all year long and we put the pressure on them.”
Freshman goalkeeper David Silva finished with five saves.
