Apaches defeat Aggies 4-2 at National Tourney

By Phil Hicks  Tyler Morning Telegraph

TJC rallied from an early 2-0 deficit to score a 4-2 victory over Murray State (Oklahoma) on Monday in the Apaches' opening game of Pool B in the NJCAA Division I National Soccer Tournament at Stryker Sports Complex in Wichita, Kansas.

The Apaches (16-2-1 overall, 1-0 in pool play) are seeded No. 7 in the tournament, while the Aggies (14-5-1 overall, 1-1 in pool play) are seeded No. 11.

Tyler Junior College plays No. 2 seed Eastern Florida State (15-2) at 12:30 p.m. Tuesday. The Titans fell to Murray State, 3-2, on Sunday. The winner of Pool B advances to the semifinals on Thursday.

The Aggies scored goals on two penalty kicks. The Apaches have given up just nine goals all season prior to the national tournament.

Joel Green scored the first PK at 13 minutes and 29 seconds into the game. About eight minutes later, Lucas Peruzo duplicated that feat with a penalty kick for a 2-0 lead by Murray State.

While trailing, the Apaches controlled the ball on the offensive end for much of the half. TJC cut the deficit to 2-1 when Hagan Cupido, a freshman from Cape Town, South Africa, scored at 29:50. The goal was unassisted.

After halftime, Cupido struck again to tie the match at 2-2 off an assist from Ato Smith Jr., a freshman from Høje-Taastrup, Denmark, at 46:58.

Then Tyler took the lead, 3-2, when Smith's header off a corner kick from Jaime Villagomez, a sophomore from El Paso, found the back of the net at 59:54.

TJC topped off the scoring when Yart Van Lieshout, a freshman from Eindhoven, Netherlands, scored off an assist from Cupido at 70:04.

"It was very disheartening to fall behind with two penalty kicks," TJC Coach Steven Clements said. "We didn't drop our heads and continued to play hard. We got a little momentum going into halftime when we scored to make it 2-1. Then we tied it 2-2 early in the second half.

"Really proud of the team."

Clements noted the play of "players up top" and the defense.

Alfred Mikkelsen (freshman, Sorø, Denmark) was in goal for the Apaches, recording two saves.

The stingy TJC defense held the Aggies to a total of six shots, three in each half. Tyler had 15 shots, including nine in the first half.

The Apaches had nine corner kicks to three by Murray State.

Other starters for Tyler were Jake Shaked, Itsuki Matsuyama, Emilio Garza, Mydas Smalls, Diomario Adamson, Diego Ruiz and Iman Ouedraogo Jr. Also playing were Tony Ngombi, Felix Casas, Hugo Debenham and Ryan Muldoon.

The Apaches are seeking their seventh national championship with Clements leading TJC to all previous six.

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