Two late first-half goals swing momentum to Mustangs in ACCC victory over Enterprise State
The Northeast Alabama Community College men’s soccer team swung momentum its way late in the first half, resulting in its first Alabama Community College Conference win of the season.
The Mustangs erased a 1-0 deficit with two goals in the closing minutes of the first half before opening the second half with a goal on the way to an eventual 4-3 win over visiting Enterprise State Tuesday night at NACC’s Mustang Soccer Field.
“It was critical to get a win in conference,” said NACC head coach Tom Shanklin, whose team improved to 1-1 in ACCC play. “Every conference game is of the highest importance. The score lines [around the conference] seem tight in all of them, which shows that the level of quality is increasing across the board. That is great for the sport in Alabama. It just means every game can go either way.”
Enterprise State took a 1-0 lead with a goal in the 19th minute, but NACC (3-6-1, 1-1) tied the score in the 38th minute on freshman Sebastian Cruz’s penalty kick before taking the lead just over two minutes later on sophomore Jose Arreguin’s rebound goal in the 41st minute.
“It was super important for us to get the go-ahead goal prior to halftime,” Shanklin said. “It helped us carry momentum into the second half.”
NACC’s lead grew to 3-1 just a couple of minutes into the second half on freshman Gael Rocha-Ramirez’s goal in the 48th minute. After Enterprise State pulled within 3-2 with a goal in the 80th minute, sophomore Bladimir Cervantes pushed the Mustangs’ lead back to a two-goal advantage with his goal off an assist from Cruz in the 84th minute. Enterprise State added a goal two minutes later, but the Boll Weevils were unable to produce the tying goal in the final minutes.
“Keeping fresh legs on the field and encouraging one another ultimately enabled us to get the win,” Shanklin said. “I’m proud of them for finishing the game.”
Cervantes finished with one goal, one assist, seven steals, two tackles and nine aerial duel wins and Cruz totaled one goal, six steals and three tackles for the Mustangs while Rocha-Ramirez posted one goal, 10 aerial duel wins, six steals and one tackle, sophomore Alexis Vega added 11 steals and one aerial duel win and Arreguin had one goal and one tackle.
Also for the Mustangs, Cameron Wood pitched in five tackles and three aerial duel wins and sophomore John Peters had three steals and three tackles while freshman Acson Aristhene had four steals and one tackle and sophomore Aaron Herrera had three steals and one tackle. NACC also got two steals and two aerial duel wins from sophomore Marcos Francisco, two steals and one aerial duel win from freshman Aidan McKinley, one steal and one tackle each from sophomore Amin Cruz and sophomore Erick Huerta, two tackles from Zahir Reynosa, three aerial duel wins from freshman Alex Montoya, one tackle and one aerial duel win from sophomore Jackson Greene and one aerial duel win each from freshman Marcus Garcia and sophomore Junior Duarte.
NACC got a combined seven saves from freshmen goalkeepers Thomas Rossiter (four) and Zahir Reynosa (three). Rossiter also had a tackle.
The Mustangs play another ACCC matchup when it hosts Wallace State Friday at 7 p.m.
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