Ah Quin-Soren and Gutierrez Alapizco come up big for MCC Soccer in wins over GateWay
Monday, October 9, 2023 - 10:00 a.m. | Dylan DeVlieger
MCC Soccer completed the sweep of GateWay CC Soccer Friday night.
Women's Soccer:
MCC came out and dominated the ball early, keeping their offense aggressive throughout the first half. The aggression paid off as in the 35th minute Olivia Rodina was able to score her second goal of the year off an assist from Rylee Lawson to put MCC up 1-0 going into halftime.
The Lady T-Birds would keep the momentum going in the second half as in the 53rd minute Taylor Ah Quin-Soren scored for the first time this season off a header from a corner kick from Grace Otero. GateWay would answer back with a goal in the 62nd minute and the 78th minute to tie the game back up at two.
With MCC needing a goal and a victory to help their postseason chances, Ah Quin-Soren would deliver another goal in the 85th minute in a similar fashion as she would ricochet the ball off her head into the goal after a Rodina corner kick.
Mesa would lock down defensively for the final five minutes to give MCC the 3-2 victory. With the win the Lady T-Birds overall record improves to 3-9 (2-7 ACCAC).
Men's Soccer:
No. 14 MCC needed to get a win in a big way against the Geckos to help them begin momentum to make a final push for the postseason and the Thunderbirds did exactly that.
Lorenzo Garcia would score his first goal of the season in the 8th minute thanks to an assist from Gabriel Gutierrez Alapizco. In the 20th minute Alapizco scored his first goal of the year as he found the back of the net off a penalty kick to give MCC a 2-0 advantage. In the 37th minute Farriel Corrales would net his third goal of the season off Apapizco's second assist of the night as he snuck it past the goalie.
Just before halftime Joseph Rodriguez scored his second goal of the year off another assist from Alapizco to give MCC a 4-0 advantage going into the halftime break.
After halftime MCC would keep their foot on the gas as Cody Helmhout would score his second goal in the 53rd minute, and Alapizco would put his stamp on the game in the 55th minute as he scored his second goal and the season to put MCC up 6-0.
The Thunderbirds would lock down defensively for the remainder of the game to earn the victory while improving their overall record to 4-2-4 overall ( 2-1-4 ACCAC).
MCC Soccer will be back in action on Tuesday as they travel to take on Paradise Valley CC.
MCC Athletics would like to thank David Karaffa Jr. who conducted play-by-play for both MCC games against GateWay. Karaffa is an MCC student currently pursuing a degree in Performing Arts. He plays soccer in the Arizona Sports League for the FC Monsoon as a forward/striker. His dream one day is to play soccer for MCC.
